Splatoon: We Become Monsters
by MasterMartin
Summary: When a wolf attack leaves Callie on the brink of death, it also reveals something new; a curse. A revival of the human myths of old. One, turned into a hulking, feral beast. The other, a corrupted bloodsucker of the night. With the Agents and the Idols in tow, the cursed Sisters must get to the bottom of this new phenomenon, before it spirals out of control...
1. Nasty Night

"Hello, Marie of Squid Sisters fame. Who'm I talking to? Aah, Agent 3! Haven't heard of you since Gramps called you down to that Metro. What's the news? Oh? Well, yes, Callie went to visit Agent 4 some time ago. Said goodbye and all. No, I made sure she was carrying the stuff I make her carry, make sure...THAT never happens again. Splattershot, pepper spray, anti-chloroform facemask. Why bring this up? ...Wh-what? Oh..oh no...where are you?! Outside Seaview Park? Okay, okay...I'll come right over! Just keep her stable!"

It did not take Marie long to bolt towards Seaview Park - a small playing field in the middle of Inkopolis' cul-de-sac. It was pretty late in the evening, pretty close to bleeding over into the night, the dark tones slowly melting the burnt amber ones away. The park was quite small, and quite quiet. It was one of the ancient settlements not yet under sea level, repurposed by the Inklings as an arena for their Turf Wars. It wasn't part of the rotation at the moment, so thankfully the area was empty, save two people. There was a powerful clomp of boots as Marie rushed across the pavement towards the scene - and what she saw made her hearts jump to her throat.

There, laid out across the pavement, splashed with magenta ink, was Callie. Squid Sister, Marie's cousin, seemingly the victim of a savage attack. She was wearing her casual disguise; white shirt, pink hoodie, pants and a pink beanie, the last of which was laying to the side of her as bandages were wrapped around her head. There were claw marks across her arms and body, a few bruises around her face, including one over her eye, and a massive bite wound across her right arm. The bite was deep, puncturing her skin and bleeding heavily, clearly made with fangs. She was awake, thankfully, but her eyelids fluttered and her breathing was erratic. To her side was Agent 3, one "Caldwell", Marie believed; orange hair tied into a ponytail as common for male Inklings, wearing the neon Hero Suit and headphones, tending calmly to Callie's wounds; he was in the process of applying bandages to the claw strikes, dabbing at the ink oozing from her mouth with a bit of tissue, and once in a while tipping some water from a bottle into her mouth.

Marie made...well it was certainly a sound, and rushed headlong towards the two, babbling incoherently. Caldwell looked up from treating Callie and turned, "Oh, Marie! Thank Co-"

"NOT NOW!" Marie screamed, pushing Caldwell out of the way and arching over her cousin. Tears were quickly shooting from her eyes as she grabbed Callie by her shoulders, "Callie! Oh my Cod, what happened?"

"I..." Callie was struggling to stay conscious, but she managed to get it out, "I...got attacked...tried to call you..."

"Call me?" Marie asked, before flipping out her phone. Sure enough, "3 Missed Calls", and she groaned angrily, "Darn it, I knew I shouldn't have set this to Silent!"

"She's managed to fill in some details with me," Caldwell stated, returning to Callie's side and resuming the bandage application.

"Well, what was it?" Marie asked, shaken, "No Octoling or Inkling could ever do this."

"No," Caldwell agreed, "Not one of us. I got a call from Callie about some time ago. Said she was in pain, that you weren't answering her calls. She was walking home from visiting Agent 4 and she got attacked by this...creature. I rushed down to help in your supposed absence and it was just about to tear into her again. Sent it running with a few shots."

"Oh thank Cod..." Marie warbled, "So, is she stable?"

"Just about," Caldwell said, "I ain't ever seen anything tear someone up like this. I've covered up and cleaned most of the wounds, but anything more is beyond me. And the hospital's too far away right now."

"That, and just putting her in a hospital will get every Snapperazi on our backsides in time," Marie sighed, "We'll get her down there tomorrow, get a bigger disguise and some proper care."

"In the absence of a better plan..." Caldwell sighed, "Okay, help me carry her home. Your apartment shouldn't be too far."

"Nah," Marie said, running over to pick up Callie's body in her shivering hands. She was a wreck, and her clothes were sticky with her ink. Normally this wasn't an issue, but the ink inside one's body was always just that little bit more important the stuff they sprayed at each other. It'd have to be. Otherwise they'd be shooting blood at each other...right? Marie shook her head to dispel the thought and helped Callie to her feet. She could stand, barely, but the act of walking on her own was clearly too painful with the wounds on her legs. Marie ducked and propped her up stop her falling over, and Caldwell rushed over to help support her. They both hooked their arm under her own, propping her up and beginning the walk back to their apartment. It was mercifully Splatfest time, so no Inkling would be out this far from the square. Shell, that was why Callie even came this way anyway. It was quiet, though wherever it was safe or not was now another matter. It would only be a short walk home. Marie whispered into her cousin's ear, "It's okay, Cal. We're gonna get you home."

But Marie failed to see something in one of the trees littering the park's gates. A small, black, furry critter, flying down from the leaves. It had been scouting the three Inklings, looking for something...blood. Or rather, whatever passed for blood in this crazy semi-aquatic world. The creature was studying them so intently - the pink one was bleeding heavily. Not a lot of blood, or whatever, left to her. Not the boy. He looked too stringy. Low quality blood. But the grey-haired one. The one in a green jacket and jeans. Oh, the creature could smell the purity of her blood...ink...something. It had found its target. With a flap of its leathery wings, it swooped down to the squid and perched on her shoulder, fangs aimed squarely at the squid's tiny neck. Marie winced a little as she felt something sharp dig into her shoulder, then a flash of black as she swung around to see the perp. It was...something? It was nevertheless enough to send Marie into a panic - warbling fervently, she lost her grip on Callie and swatted at the little leathery thing, trying to bat it away while she danced to and fro.

"AH!" Marie screamed as she tried to bat the thing away, "Agent, I require some help here!"

"Got it!" Caldwell called out, reaching for his Hero Shot, and yet only managing to thump Callie in the stomach. In her panic to remove the leathery monster, Marie had thrown Callie across his body and she was almost smothering his torso,desperately clinging to him to avoid falling to the floor. He shook his head, "Oh, no..." and carefully set Callie down, "Okay, got to set you down, Callie. Just give me a second!"

"Agent!" Marie screamed, "This thing's getting pretty rowdy!"

"Hang on, hang on!" Caldwell said, digging out his Hero Shot. He aimed at the creature, but it was flying and flapping too fast, "Aah, I can't get a bead on it! Move to the left!" Marie danced around some more as Caldwell attempted to steady his aim, "Right, left a bit! No, your left! No wait, MY left!"

"AGENT HURRY UP!" Marie yelped. It didn't take long for the creature to settle itself, and then rear up and strike. Marie could feel the sharp sting as two fangs pierced her neck, then a draining agony as her ink was slowly sucked out. She gasped in pain and began to stumble around as she could feel the creature take more and more of her life force. Finally, she was nearly still, and it gave Caldwell the opening he needed. A single splatting sound filled the air and slammed into the winged demon. It screamed as the ink struck it, flinging it from Marie's neck and sending a small spurt of grey-green ink with it, before it collapsed onto the pavement. It did not move. Marie panted and sighed, briefly buckling under her own weight and falling to her knees, clutching at where she had been bitten. She felt...weak. Like, completely sapped of energy. She panted a bit more and looked up to Caldwell, "N-Nice shot...what took you so long?! Gramps told me you were quite the crack shot those few years ago!"

"That was in a big valley against big targets and no chance for friendly fire. Did you want me to risk splatting you miles from the nearest Respawn Pad?" Caldwell asked, vaguely offended and irritated. Marie took a few seconds to process the info, and shrugged her response, "Well then. Are you okay?" he approached her and slowly moved her hand from her neck. Two deep punctures were in her neck and ink was slithering out of the holes, "Can you stand?"

"I can try..." Marie huffed and puffed. Caldwell gave her to the count of three, then helped her to her feet. She was standing, wobbling furiously, but still faring better than Callie. She whimpered, "I feel like something got...injected in me!"

"This is becoming one weird night," Caldwell hummed, his stoic face almost cracking a worried grimace, "Come on, we better get back to the apartment before some other beast comes to nibble on us."

"Yeah...y-yeah..." Marie gasped, stumbling over to Callie and picking her up, "Come on, Cal. Let's go home. I'll make you some peanut butter krisp cakes..."

"My...my favourite," Callie giggled deliriously, "Th-thanks..."

Wrapping her arms around Marie, Callie dozed off in Marie's own, turning to snuggle into her torso and breathing calmly. Caldwell took Marie under the arm to help support her own wobbling legs,and then the three finally began the long, struggling walk to the apartment. The moon, not yet full but close, shone on them like a guiding beacon, while winds whipped the pavement and blew leaves across the road. And then, as the trio vanished from the streetlight's coverage, the orange-caked creature began to stir. It got up, got to its feet, shook itself free of the ink that clung to it. And with a screech, it took off into the night night once more, its pride hurt yet its belly full.

===

The scent of freshly baked peanut butter treats brought Callie to her senses. Stretching her arms with a cute yawn, she slowly came to and blinked a few times to clear her vision. As the bluriness faded, she could see she was in a bedroom. Not her's specifically, but she was pretty sure she was back in her apartment. Or rather, her's and Marie's apartment, as they obviously shared one. Looking around in the darkened room, she took a few more seconds to absorb the visuals and eventually shake her head. No, this was not her room. Her room was filthy, pink and had trash all over the floor. Well that, and a heart-shaped bed. Couldn't sleep without it. Well, she could if she was almost mauled to death by a monster, as was the case here. But she was in no hurry to remember any of that. This, upon closer inspection, was the converted guest room. What used to be a sort of chillout area beforehand, the room had been converted to a bedroom in the off-chance one of the Agents, mostly Caldwell, needed a room for the night for whatever reason. Compared to the zaniness of her room or Marie's, this room was quite bland. Beige walls, tan carpets, little in the way of dressing. But it was clean. There was a bottle of water on the bedside table, but no peanut butter krisp cakes. Dang. Must be in the kitchen.

Shifting herself to try and stand, Callie regretted it almost instantly as a hideous wave of pain struck her body and she yelped. She collapsed back to the bed and rubbed her aching limbs in pain, groaning and shifting on the bed. She couldn't see too well in the dim room, light supplied only the streetlight shining outside the windowed door to the balcony, and yet she could feel the cold cling of ink-stained bandages. Fresh-ish ones compared to the ones she half-remembered Caldwell applying to her, thankfully, but still it was quite clear her wounds had not healed. Why would they? It had only been...oh dear, how long had it been?! Groggy, she pushed herself to get up again, and get up she did. With a grunt of pain and a stinging agony that flushed through her, Callie got to her feet. She looked down at the bed she had been sleeping in. The covers were bunched up in the corner of the room and she had been laying on a towel, doubtless from Marie not wanting the sheets soaked in ink. Fair enough. Callie turned on the lights, blanketing the room in yellowish vision, but she squinted and hissed as her eyes burned with the change in light. She rubbed the sleep and a little bit of the ink out of them, and she waltzed over to look at herself in the mirror. She was...hmm. She was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts, doubtless so it'd be easier to reapply the bandages. She had them around her arms and her left leg, a few around her torso and one wrapped around her head. Her right arm was wrapped the heaviest, with what was clearly a sterile pad slipped into the bandages. She knew why. That...that bite. She reached to touch it with her other hand and she winced with the intense pain. Stretching a final time, she wandered across the room towards the door, and opened it with trepidation.

The apartment the Sisters shared was...small. Humble. Not at all what one would expect from the old idols. But Marie loved it. It was comfortable, not too far from the city centre and yet at the same time so...inconspicuous. So normal and out of the way of all the snapperazi who would dare to stalk them like they did those poor Off the Hook girls. Barely got a moment to themselves, they did. But not them. Marie and Callie were happy in this little apartment. It was one of those ones with one whole room cut off into sections of sorts, with the bedrooms and bathrooms being actual rooms. Callie was now standing in the lounge, having just exited the guest room. To her right, the apartment wall leading to the exit door. To her left, the couch and TV above the fireplace. In front of her, the dining room and kitchen. And within the kitchen was Marie, dressed in casual clothes (hoodie, sweatpants, that sort of thing) and making something on the breakfast bar. She was spreading peanut butter on some small cakes made of crisped rice. Callie's favourite treat. The smell alone intoxicated her and almost made her forget about her aches and pains. She could also see Agent 3, in his hero suit and headphones, on the couch pawing at his phone. He looked...a bit bored, honestly, like he was waiting for something. Nevertheless, Callie approached Marie, trying to say something. But little came out. Her throat was dry, and her brain was still muddled. All that came out was a course, "...Hey."

This was enough, of course, for Marie to turn. The lights switched right on in her eyes, Callie could see, and Marie's expression shifted from boredom to genuine relief. She put the peanut butter down and reached out to hug her cousin affectionately. Callie winced again as Marie put pressure on all the painful bits, and the pressure of the wet bandages on her skin was less than pleasant, but she returned the hug with what strength she had anyway. Marie sighed, "Hey, Cal. Oh man, you gave me a...a little bit of a scare, back there..."

Callie winced again as she tried to remember. She could remember Caldwell arriving on the scene, his stoic face staring into hers, then Marie running into view and grabbing her by the shoulders. She...looked like she was about to burst into tears. Then nothing. She passed out sometime after. Still, though, Callie could see Marie's expression. Her face was all red and puffed up, from the sheer stress of it all. Her capture, her kidnapping, her brainwashing...time had not been kind to Callie, and no-one knew that better than her cousin. She was already antsy about Cal going on her walks again, and this was not at all helping. Already, Callie could feel her shivering from worry. She simply beamed her radiant smile and hugged back harder, "Yeah, don't worry. I'm still here."

"Good..." Marie sighed, breaking from the hug, "C-Come on. Sit down. Krisp cakes are almost done."

"Oooh," Callie giggled, smiling some more, "You're too kind."

"Not kind enough..." she could hear Marie mutter woefully under her breath. Callie sighed and walked back to the couch and sat upon it, next to Caldwell. He hadn't moved or looked up from his phone during any of that, and only now did he looked up to greet Callie with a stoic smile.

"Ah, Agent 1!" Caldwell said with the same smile, "You're awake! How do you feel?"

"Like garbo..." Callie sighed, pawing at the bandages and pads on her arm, "Everything aches and hurts and everything's all wet and sticky..."

"Yes, well, bandages are all we have right now," Caldwell shook his head, "Blame me for not keeping stock after patching everyone up after that debacle in the Metro. Tomorrow, we'll head off down the hospital and get you some actual care."

"Thanks...say, how long was I out?" Callie asked.

"Oh, more than a few hours," Caldwell stated, checking his phone, "It's about twenty to ten now."

Callie sighed, grunting a little as she shifted to lie down on the couch, her head resting near Caldwell but not exactly resting on his lap, "Oh man, I hurt all over...what happened?"

"Well..." Marie sighed as she approached, tray in hand, "We were hoping that you could tell us..." and she placed the tray down on the coffee table in front of the couch with a soft clonk. On the tray, six small krisp cakes lay. Callie's pained face lit up as Marie took one of the treats off of the tray and handed it gingerly to her cousin. Callie accepted the morsel gratefully, and took a massive bit of it while still lying on the couch. She was a little messy with the act, a few dollops of peanut butter spread across her face, but she was overjoyed at the taste of the food of the gods themselves. Well, to her, at least. Marie sighed somewhat contentedly, having grown used to and perhaps even fond of her cousin's messy habits, and went about cleaning the goo off of her face with a paper towel. After a bit of a silence, disturbed only by a small crunch as Caldwell took one of the discs and then a bite, Marie nudged Callie in one of the few spots that was not wounded, "Well?"

"OH! Yes! So, what happened? Hmm..." Callie pondered, "Well...okay, let's start from the beginning. I was...y-yeah, I was done visiting Mira for the night, said another thanks for helping kick that brainwashing, you know, and then I walked home. I picked out the safest, closest route back home that I could, and had my Splattershot and pepper spray at the ready, like you said. And as I got near Seaview Park, I see this...thing out in the distance. In the bushes, yeah. This big...uh, this big...this...THING. A big, fluffy thing with sharp teeth and this horrible look in its eyes. It looked like Judd's evil twin or something! It growled, I tried to escape it, but it pounced on me. Nearly tore me to it ran off to...I dunno, do its business."

"Why didn't you run?" Marie asked, somewhat fearfully.

"Couldn't!" Callie blurted out, gasping in pain as she shifted back up into a sitting position on the couch, "The dang thing mauled me so bad...I couldn't move. I was losing so much ink, I...I..." she began to tear up from the memories flooding back, "I thought I'd never make it. I thought I'd die there. I was...I was so scared..."

"Oh cod, Callie..." Marie sobbed, bringing her cousin into another hug. Callie was blubbering in fear now as Marie continued to silently cry, clutching to each other like long-lost siblings. Which...well, they were, a few months ago. Caldwell couldn't remember, he was out of town when it happened. Shell, he was on the other side of the country while that was going down, doing some light recon work at another outpost. He only came back for that stuff in the Metro, the Agent 8 guy...and now here he was another month on, watching these two cry for losses that didn't happen...but could have so easily did. Eventually, Marie broke from the hug a little, reaching down to grab the rest of Callie's half-eaten rice cake and bringing it back up to her mouth. Callie took the last of the cake in a single chomp, and Marie began to stroke her hair in a rhythmic fashion, "Well, y-you did the right thing, trying to call me. If only I hadn't been getting so many calls from Mira myself, it's why I set it to Silent. Only phone I ever trust to sound off at all times is Caldwell's."

"A wise choice, as we proved tonight," Caldwell said in an almost boastful manner, "I came running from your call, got rid of the beast and did what I could to help. And then, of course, I called Marie. We were able to get you home safe, made sure you were stable. But that wasn't the only scuffle we had..."

Callie looked up to her cousin. Sure enough, there was a mark on her that Callie had plain not even noticed before. On Marie's soft, supple neck, there was a plaster stuck to her. One of those transparent swim plasters where you could see the actual medical pad underneath. And sure enough, within the pad were two pinprick stains in a pale green - Marie's ink colour. Callie began to panic, "M-Marie! What happened?!"

"Just a small creature coming down to bite use all in the neck and drain our fluids," Marie shuddered, "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I distracted it, and Caldwell shot it down. I was determined to get you home safe, my own wellbeing be darned."

"First you and 4 save me from Octavio. Then you and 3 save me from that creature. I...don't know what I'd do, without you. Thanks, Cuz..." Callie sighed, her voice trembling.

"It's...n-no problem, really," Marie likewise felt like she was struggling to keep her composure. She turned to Caldwell, "Agent, you've done the research, right?"

"I have now," Caldwell stated, shaking his phone with his new knowledge, "Put my nose in a few virtual books to figure out just what manner of monster that even was. It was what the human records call a lupine creature. A wolf."

"Yes, yes. Do you know if their bite can be infectious?"

"Well, any could under the right circumstances," Caldwell corrected, "But no, nothing specific. I mean, except for the mythological. But that's unlikely."

"I dunno..." Callie crowed, slowly breaking from the embrace and getting to her feet, walking around the room until she got to the window overlooking the balcony, "There's something in me. This...nagging. This weird feeling. Like I feel like I'm not myself. I'm not sick, I just feel...wrong! Like something's gonna happen..." she turned, staring out of the window. The evening had now fully bled into the night, and the dark clouds above were slowly shifting. There, revealed upon their movement, was the moon. A white disc in the sky. Callie could feel the moon shine upon her. She whispered hoarsely, "The moon...it's so beautiful tonight. It's so...so...nnngGHAAAAAH!"

In a matter of seconds, Callie began to clutch at her head and double over in agony, falling to her knees and struggling to breath. It was like something was...wriggling around within her, trying to break free. And it was winning. Callie began to whimper in fear as her hands began to feel wrong, and she studied one of them - to her horror, they were reshaping in a painful manner, slowly shifting into...paws? Paws not unlike the ones on Judd, at least until four thick black claws sprouted from what used to be her fingers. From there, something else began to sprout out - fur. A thick layer of black fur, peppered with magenta highlights, that shot from the paw and slowly travelled up her body. It wasn't long before her other hand and even both of her feet were twisted into paws as well, and there was a definite crack as her legs buckled inwards and reshaped. Callie no longer felt like she could stand, that she had shifted to some beast that walked on all fours. Now she could feel her entire form start to bulk out, adding muscle to every aspect of her where there could be, expanding her form and hulking her out incredibly. She could hear the rip of her clothes and bandages as her massive form could no longer be contained within them, but she dared not feel the discomfort when the agony of her wounds and the transformation was tearing into her mind, blanketing any resemblance of consciousness with pain and fear.

She could only barely hear Marie cry out, "Callie! NO!" before her ears started to shift upon her own head. They moved upwards, resting at the top of her scalp, and then increased in size as they became fluffier and sharper. Her cries of fear and pain were briefly silenced as her teeth began to lengthen and sharpen, turning into full fangs far beyond any Inkling. Fur continued to spread across the rest of her grotesque body, eventually covering her head and yet barely doing anything to hide her terrified expressions. Her eyes dilated and turned a shade of magenta, her hair became even longer and too became dredged in fur, and there was a moment of pure misery as a tail formed and shot out of the her back, growing suckers as if it was like any other tentacle. Callie, in whatever respites she could find, could feel her own mind run away from her. A retreat, not daring to look back. She felt...feral.

"Ahh...AAAH!" Callie screamed as the final changes overtook her. Her face distorted, stretched out, pushing forward and forming a canine's muzzle and jawline. She arched upwards and screamed a final time as the crunchy sound filled the air, "AAAAAAAAHHHHWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Marie found herself at a loss for words, her own mind blank except for the sheer screaming terror that was racing through her very being. Callie, her sweet and somewhat ditzy cousin, had mutated into this large, feral form. A huge, hulking beast coated head to paw in fur and muscle, her face a cruel mockery as it howled and gnashed its teeth. The monster finally stopped its birthing howl, and collapsed to the ground, exhausted. But then, every so slowly, it got up again. Forced into a quadruped form, the beast turned to look at them. Caldwell could see the look in its eyes, and he knew it all too well. This was the same look that the lupine had when he came across it, when it was still cornering Callie - the look of anticipation. The sight of fresh meat. A guttural growl escaping its throat, the creature slowly approached the two, paws clattering on the wooden floor and droplets of drool flicking lazily onto the floor. Marie, so overcome with grief and shock and fear and Cod knows what else, was frozen in place. She found herself unable to move, not even away from her cousin's approach. Caldwell took the initiative and stepped out between her and what used to be Callie. He drew his Hero Shot and aimed it at the beast.

"Ca-I mean, Agent! Don't make me do this!" Caldwell boasted, his grip on the splattershot steadfast, "I WILL splat you, if you don't stand down!"

Callie, whatever was left of her, refused to acknowledge this. The lupine-like continued unabated, its growls growing and its back legs rearing, ready to strike. Marie finally found herself enough to at least move, and she approached while still kneeling behind Caldwell. She spoke, her voice full of desperation, "C-Callie! Snap out of it! We're not gonna hurt you! It's me, remember?! It's me, Marie!"

At that, the monster stopped. It felt like it was trying to work something out; Marie could almost feel the gears turning in its head as it tried to process this information. It...it spoke! It's voice was a growl, a guttural parody of Callie's own, but it spoke nevertheless, "Ma...rie..." it winced in pain, arching down and burying its head in its paws. More grunts of exertion came out as it continued to ponder, as if something was...returning to it. There was a deathly silence as things wound down, but it wasn't long before the beast spoke again, "Ma...rie?" it looked up, and on its face was an expression of...friendliness. Of exhaustion. Of relief. And of happiness, all at the same time. It looked like...Callie's expression. It soon beamed a bright, fanged smile, "Marie!" and bounded more playfully towards Marie. Caldwell tried to stand his ground, but Callie soon punted him out of the way as she pounced on Marie. Marie screamed in terror, expecting the worst...and yet all she got was a big, magenta tongue slathered across her face a few times. She looked up, just about ready to faint, to see the lupine hover over her. Panting like a big dog, eyes wide, tail wagging, "Marie!" it said again before it resumed licking her face.

"Th-thank Cod..." Caldwell sighed as he got to his feet and brushed himself off, "I think she's herself again. That was...scary."

"Callie..." Marie panted, desperately trying to calm herself, "Are you...are you okay?"

"I..." Callie growled, retreating to help get Marie to her feet, "I don't know...I felt my mind go blank. I lost control! I was so close to..." she sat on her backside and stared at her own two hand paws, "What happened to me?!" she turned to Caldwell and roared, "WHAT AM I?!"

"What the manuscripts mentioned," Caldwell sighed greatly, "Fascinating."

"What are you talking about?" Marie asked, getting up and sitting back down on the couch. Callie attempted to follow suit, but her body was now too big to even fit on it, let alone sit with her cousin, so she whimpered and placed herself just to the side of her.

Caldwell continued, but not before reaching for his phone and quickly tapping out something into his browser's search engine, "This appears to be something that was long a part of human culture. Left behind in their manuscripts..." he walked over to the window that Callie had transformed in front of, staring at the full moon with his hands behind his back, "Callie is suffering from a case of Lycanthropy."

Marie tilted her head in confusion, "Lycan what now?"

Caldwell turned dramatically to face the two, "Your cousin, Marie, is a Werewolf."

A powerful blast of thunder and lightning appeared quite literally out of nowhere - it was a calm night with absolutely no clouds, let alone rain - and the monstrous Callie gasped in amazement...and then tilted her head, ears drooping, "A what?"

"A creature from human legend. Several millennia old," Caldwell began to explain. He approached the two and handed his phone to Marie, while Callie arched over her shoulder. The screen was focused on a picture, that of ancient history. Two humans, true forms lost to time, doubled over and sprouting claws and fur, not unlike Callie. Then, the next image showed them rising as beasts. Caldwell continued, "Men and women alike saddled with a most unusual curse that, upon exposure to a full moon, mutates them into hybrids. Half man, 'were', and half wolf. A werewolf. They were nothing more than legend, but..." he looked over Callie's despairing muzzle and sighed, "Clearly, not anymore. It's odd, really. Wolves are supposed to be extinct, like everything else from human times..."

"Well, what're we going to do?!" Marie asked incredulously, "I don't want her to be like this forever! SHE doesn't want to be like this forever! Isn't there a cure?"

"Well..." Caldwell scratched the back of his head, his own voice shaking and nervous. Like he really didn't want to say what he was about to say, "Not one that can be found online, no."

There was a grave silence as the trio began to process this information. Caldwell continued with his borderline expressionless visage, while Marie was staring into space, her face blank. "...What am I going to do?" Callie whined, covering her head with her paws, "I can't go about my idol things or go outside like...THIS! I'm a monster! I'm ugly! I'm so ugly..."

"No, no, you're not ugly," Marie cooed, leaning over the handrest of the couch and slowly stroking Callie's massive strands of hair, "It's okay...we can...we can work this out, okay? We just need to stay calm. How to get you calm, hmm...I know!" Getting off of the couch and then sitting neatly by Callie's side, Marie took her hand and began to slowly glide it across the back of her ears. She began stroking them slowly and smoothly, dancing this way and that across her scalp. Callie slowed her whines and began to...growl? Well, growl in a way to resemble purring of some description, but it was clear that this was working. She shut her eyes and slowly rubbed her muzzle against Marie, growling rhythmically in time to the waves of Marie's hand across her scalp. Marie smiled contentedly, an eerie sense of calm building up in her. This night had been one hell of a mess, but yet...maybe things could still turn out okay. She could tell that Callie was so close to being relaxed, as well. She slowly whispered into her ear, "There we go...better?"

"Better..." Callie purred vividly, almost as if she was dreaming.

"Lovely," Marie sighed, before turning back up to Caldwell, "Well, what do we do now?"

"If the legends apply here thus far, Callie should return to normal come daybreak," Caldwell explained, putting his phone away, "So the best we can do now is get some rest, then take Callie to the hospital tomorrow to get her wounds patched up properly. The forms don't keep over injuries, so her wounds might return once she turns back."

"Great..." Marie grumbled, "So what're we gonna do for the rest of the night?"

"...Cuddle?" Caldwell shrugged, "Try to make Callie feel comfortable until dawn? Frankly, I sort of want to get to the bottom of what attacked YOU..."

"That what?" Marie asked, before a dull, thumping pain in her neck made her remember. She placed two fingers across the plaster, "Oh yeah, that little devil that bit into my neck and...did it suck some ink out of me?"

"Looks like it," Caldwell hummed, "According to my research, it was a bat. But that's impossible. Bats are extinct too."

"Well, if wolves survived," Marie sighed, "Dang, this is reminding me of something. Something that those two Off the Hook girls did...one of their Splatfests."

"Aah, yes, I know which one you mean," Caldwell noted, "The Werewolves vs Vampires Splatfest. They found those ancient manuscripts and, being Inklings, decided to make a contest out of it. I guess some legends truly never die," he gave an amused shrug, "Why ask?"

"I dunno..." Marie pondered, lightly dabbing at the tips of Callie's ears and watching them flicker in response, "It just felt familiar to me. In...more ways than one. I had NO idea what a werewolf even was, so I was in the dark. A vampire, though, I understand that. Evil inksuckers who roam the night, taking life from their prey with the ability to turn...into..."

There was a silence never so deathly as the two squids stared at each other, the full ramifications of their theory dawning upon them. It was such that even Callie awakened from her slumber and stared at the two, whining in question and tilting her head in confusion. Caldwell stared at Marie for a few more seconds, a look of wondrous fear across his face, "You don't think..."

"N-No!" Marie blurted out in response, "It can't be! At least, I don't think so..." there was a slight tinge of panic to her voice, but she still felt calm, "I...I got bit, b-but there's no way it was infectious like Callie. Right? I would've transformed by now..."

"Well..." Caldwell sighed, "There was a delay between her getting bit and you getting bit...about...five minutes?"

Marie began to breathe a little heavily. She directed her gaze towards the clock. How long had Callie been transformed? Was it five minutes? She began to panic silently, "Oh dear. Ooooooh dear, no. But, i-it's not possible! It can't be...r-right?"

"Marie?" Caldwell asked, "Are you okay? You're starting to sweat a little."

"I mean...I..." Marie trailed off, "It can't be possible...it can't be..." her breathing became heavier as a sickly feeling welled up in her stomach,"Oh man...I don't feel so good!"

A horrible feeling rushed from her stomach to her throat, Marie broke from Callie's side and rushed towards the bathroom. She didn't even close the door on the way in, instead just crashing into the toilet and arcing over it. Against his better judgement, Caldwell rushed after her and knelt by her side, rubbing her back and reaching out his hand for her to grab. She squeezed it tight and then finally...uh, let loose. A horrific gurgling sound echoed through the room, as Marie threw up, splashing sick into the toilet bowl and eliciting a few gargled coughs as she spluttered the last of it out. She gripped Caldwell's hand ever tighter, to the point of nearly crushing it, while he continued to rub her back.

"There..." he sighed, "Better?"

"Blurgh...kinda..." Marie sighed, "I'm...sorry. Really don't know what came over me there...urp..." a slight gurgle as a little more came up, but then that was enough. Caldwell winced as it happened, having dared not look in the bowl. Neither had Marie, either, having squeezed her eyes shut from the ordeal. She finally arched them open, and gasped a little. The bowl's contents was not the colour she expected. It was..red? A very rustic red, a deep crimson. Smelled of iron. She winced, "This isn't right. I haven't eaten anything red today...and even if it was ink, which I hope it isn't, mine isn't red."

"And it smells wrong for ink or standard food," Caldwell noted, turning up his nose at it, "This looks like something else. Almost as if it's been tainted. Like it's what the humans called...blood."

Caldwell was interrupted as Marie screamed in pain and clutched her stomach, flopping to the bathroom floor. Panicked, he grabbed Marie's body and, after flushing the toilet, rushed back into the front room and placed her on the sofa. Now it was Marie's turn to double up and shiver in agony, something clearly happening within her. Caldwell set her down steady and tried to stop her from lashing out and hitting something, but was forced to step back before long. Callie rushed towards the two on all fours, clearly panicking, "What's happening!?"

"Marie was bitten by a bat," Caldwell concluded, "And it looks like werewolves aren't the only myths getting a revival tonight!"

The two looked on in wonder as the transformation began. Marie grunted and groaned as the curse changed her insides in ways she never imagined, looking up pitifully as she grimaced through the pain. The colour was draining out of her skin at a very alarming rate, leaving her deathly pale before long. In contrast to Callie bulking out, Marie almost looked like as if she was getting thinner, perhaps a bit lankier. There were small spurts of ink as claws sprouted from her fingers, though more like long fingernails than the black claws of Callie. Marie continued to clutch her stomach, accentuating the slight boost to her bust, and she opened her mouth to cry out in pain. During the scream, two large fangs erupted from her mouth and stuck in place, leaving them jut out and carve holes in the teeth underneath them as she closed her mouth. But perhaps the biggest change was the lovely green tint to her otherwise whitish tentacles turning a dark, stained crimson, not unlike the stuff Caldwell saw in the toilet bowl. Her breathing became wheezed and erratic as the final few changes took hold, and she reached out to grasp Callie's hand and clutch it tightly.

"H-Hurts to br-breathe..." she struggled, her voice pained and failing.

"That's just shock," Caldwell said, grasping her other hand, "Just hold on, I think you're almost through this!"

And before long, she had stopped struggling. Her cries withered and ceased as the agony finally subsided and she lay limp on the couch. Gingerly, Caldwell moved her body so that she was lying flat on the couch, arms outstretched. Callie overlooked her sister, ears drooping and a subtle whine escaping her throat. The two waited for some time, looking over the transformed Marie; her skin pale, her tentacles red, her hands shredded with claws and two sharp fangs poking from her upper lip. And yet she looked so...calm. Her face showed no more emotion and had relaxed, bar a single tear streaming down her cheek. Her breathing slowly resumed, its rhythm restored and happily consistent once more. Then, a stir. A sleepy groan as Marie came to again, an errant twitch in her off hand. She finally opened her eyes, showing their change from a fiery orange to a deep red. She hissed as her eyes opened fully, baring her fangs, almost in the fashion of Callie howling at the moon. Caldwell looked on, almost impressed.

"M-Marie..." Callie gasped, her expression one of surprise.

"Well look at that," Caldwell said, almost proudly, "Reborn, as a vampire. Uh..." he trailed off, his tone of voice stopping cold. He shrugged, "Congratulations?"

"...Is..." Marie grimaced, an odd tinge to her voice, "Is this how we're going to play this, then? Me? A bloodsucker of the night?" She gasped and covered her mouth, "M-My voice!" And sure enough, the final few changed had affected her vocal chords. Her voice sounded so very different to what she was used to. It was deeper, calmer and much more sophisticated. So much more...sultry, like a baroness. She looked towards Caldwell, "Mirror...I need a mirror!"

Caldwell was all too happy to provide, handing her his phone with the inner camera turned on. It was...kind of a mirror. Enough for Marie, at least, who proceeded to stare into the screen longingly, taking in all of her new features. She arched her eyelids away to get a good look at her new crimson eyes. She ran a finger across one of her new fangs, feeling its eerie smoothness. She placed her hand on her cheek, to feel her skin, and was met with a deathly chill that no Inkling of the living would ever give off. She slumped the phone down onto the table, where Caldwell took it back, and buried her head in her hands in despair. Callie whined again, and placed a paw on Marie's lap for comfort, to which Marie placed on of her hands on that.

"Well, Squid," Marie sighed painfully, "I guess we're doing this now..."

"On the bright side," Callie growled, "At least your voice sounds cooler. And you look great! B-Better than me after transforming...guh, this BODY! It feels like I'm hauling around bags of flour!"

"You think so?" Marie asked, to which Callie nodded happily. Marie's expression turned to one of amusement and she ran both of her hands through her new tentacle hair, "Well...I suppose I can make it work..." she stopped, a low grumbling escaping from her stomach, "I'm feeling hungry, though. But, I just ate..." another growl, and Marie grimaced as she grabbed her stomach again, "GUH! It's a very...painful hunger!"

"I don't think it's hunger for food," Caldwell frowned, "I think it's your body's way of saying you need...blood."

"Blood?" Marie asked.

"Well, ink, for us," Caldwell shrugged, "A newborn vampire needs to feed sometime, after all."

"Wha-no!" Marie gasped through the pain, "I don't wanna bite people! I don't wanna drink blood...uh, ink, like that! It's savage!"

"You have to," Caldwell reminded, "Feeding on the innocent is part of your biology now. We can't just starve it out, it could drive you insane. That SAID..." he arched backwards a bit, "You are not taking any of mine. I want to study these myths. Not join them."

"...I have an idea," Callie barked, after a few seconds of thinking, "But I reaaaaaally don't think you're gonna like it. Gimme my phone. Woof."

===

Mira, the Fourth Agent, crept into the apartment and closed the door behind her. She had this massive smile on her face, a crazed grin like no other. Marie, the Squid Sister of her dreams, the one who hired her to save her cousin and defeat the Octarian menace a second time, had invited her to their apartment! Well, Callie did, but she sounded...weird. Really gruff. She said she had a throat infection, nothing major, but then MARIE got on the phone. And she sounded so different! So deep, so sultry, so...sexy! How could Marie's #1 Fan say no to "come over for a bite to eat"? Even if the wording was a little weird, and there was this weird sigh in her voice after saying it, BUT STILL.

Before stepping further into the room, she quickly stopped to check herself in a mirror just that one last time. She needed to make sure she was looking good for Marie. Fair skin, short yellow tentacles, headset. Hero Hoodie, shorts, Hero boots, even glasses. Perfection. Marie couldn't resist THIS. Puffing up her chest, she burst into the rest of the room, looking around. So this was the Squid Sisters' apartment? It was...kinda small, actually. Mira had never really known the Sisters until Marie caught her attention in Octo Canyon. Didn't watch a lot of TV from back in the day. But when she saw Marie, how she moved, how she acted, how she spoke and dressed and swayed her hips while walking...oh MAN, she was HOOKED! Nowadays she would do anything for Marie - and mostly that meant buying stuff for them as to not draw public attention, but, again, still.

"HELLO!" she yelled, grinning from ear to ear, "Agent 4 has arrived!"

"Thank Cod..." came Marie's new voice from across the room, "I was waiting so long for that bite...I'm famished..." she stepped out of the shadows at the back of the room, appearing in full view of her fan. Mira gasped in a mixture of shock and excitement. Marie looked...really different. Her skin looked so pale as to belong on a corpse, her hair still a white-ish shade but now accentuated by dark red highlights instead of light green. Her eyes likewise were a deep crimson, small claws on her fingers, and two fangs in her mouth. But her outfit was changed, too. She was wearing a white t-shirt, shorts, white socks and...running mascara? Alright.

"M-Miss Marie!" Mira crowed, saluting, "It's so great to see you! So, what kinda midnight snack were you planning on? And why with me? I MEAN I'm grateful, but..."

"Well..." Marie sighed, a hand on her growling stomach, "The food is kinda...well, it took a while to get here..." she winced as another gurgle escaped her abdomen, "But it's here now and..." she doubled over in pain as another, louder gurgle rang out, "NO! I don't want to do this!"

"You have to," another voice called out from the dark. Mira looked over Marie's hunched shoulder to see Agent 3 in the shadows, hand stroking some big fluffy that was impossible to make out in the dark. He continued, "You can't ignore the call, Marie. You just can't."

"Hey, Caldwell!" Mira yapped, waving.

"Hey," came Caldwell's dry response.

"Look, I can't sugarcoat this..." Marie growled, getting onto Mira's level, "Mira. I gotta...oh Cod, I...I have to bite into your neck and drain some of your ink."

"I..." Mira's expression softened, "What?"

"I need to drain your blood," Marie said again, "And no-one else will-"

There was a zipping sound as Mira unzipped and tore off her Hero Hoodie, showing her black tank top underneath. She arched her head to the side and bared her neck. She beamed, her face one of excited glee, "Please, Marie-Senpai! Help yourself!"

Marie stared at the scene with a bleary, delirious look in her eyes. She turned back towards Caldwell and Callie. Mira couldn't see Callie, but Marie could. Guess she could see better in the dark now, huh. And through her canine muzzle, Callie's face screamed a smug, "Told you so..."

Marie shook the thought out of her head, and turned to Mira, "Okay...here goes..." as she approached Mira's neck, fangs bared, she could feel something stir within her. Like some other person, in control of her mind, knowing exactly what to do in this situation. Closing her eyes and bracing herself, Marie finally launched forward and bit Mira, fangs sinking deep into her neck. Mira grunted a little, but recovered incredibly quickly, grabbing hold of Marie's arms as she wrapped her own around Mira's torso for support. There was a weird sucking noise as Marie began sucking ink from the Agent's neck, a look of pure horror on her face and a few whimpers escaping her closed mouth. Mira, on the other hand, was loving it. Perhaps a little TOO much, though. Her eyes were rolling back just as much as her legs were buckling from weakness. She sighed, smiling vividly, blushing.

"Aaaaaaawwwww Yeeeeeeeaaahhhh..." loosely escaped her lips as Marie finished her work. Marie could hear that voice in her head again, the one telling her how to do any of this to begin with. How to bite into her neck properly, how to drain ink, and - in this case - how to not infect Mira too. Steadying herself, Marie tore free of Mira's neck, yellow ink flying in small spurts as she did so, and she stepped back and groaned as her mouth hung open and she clutched at her stomach. A final set of cramps came rushing in as slithers of dark green slime oozed out of her fangs, dripping onto the floor. Finally, the flow ceased and Marie wiped at the residue on her fangs with a bit of paper towel. Mira was still standing, almost in a stupor, staring blankly at the most unusual scene before her. She looked ever so relaxed. She sighed deeply, and mumbled, "Wow...Marie, of the Squid Sisters, drained MY ink! That was an honor, senpai!"

But Marie didn't hear that. She was too busy sinking to the floor, hands clasped to her head, her horrific expression still very much on her face. And then, it scrunched up. After a bit of a whine, Marie broke out into sobs, arched over and weeping miserably to herself. It came...pretty much out of nowhere, but it didn't take a genius to see the problem here. Being forced to bite and drain a friend, however willing. To go against nature as they knew it. It must have felt...traumatic. Callie's canine face twisted into one of worry and she slowly slinked out of the shadows to assist her. Mira caught the beast, slumped over, walking on all fours towards the crying vampiress, and how it had magenta highlights and large strands of hair. It almost looked like Callie! But, it couldn't have been Callie, right?! Callie was never that...buff. Or hairy. Or scary. Nevertheless, the beast slowly approached Marie and sat behind her, wrappng its hind legs around her buckled legs and then its front legs around her torso. Marie twisted her upper body to cry into the beast's chest, her sobs muffled by all of the floof but still very much auditory. The beast spoke in a growled imitation of Callie's own voice, "So much for keeping calm, huh?"

"What've I become?!" Marie wailed, "Turned into a vampire, forced to bite and drain the ink of innocents just to keep myself going! And you, this...wolf BEAST!"

Callie whined a little, ears drooping, tears forming, "M-Marie? What's happened to us?

"We..." Marie sobbed, "We've become monsters..."

The two were engaged in a soft embrace now, hugging each other and softly crying into each other. Their tears splashed away the vile venom that had dripped from Marie's fangs mere moments ago, washing away the poison, but it wasn't enough. Callie hugged Marie tighter, fully enveloping her in her own fluffy embrace, and eventually aimed her head towards the sky and let out another howl, a deep one of pure sorrow. Marie almost tried to join in, letting off what could onto be described as a sorrowful hiss into the night sky, before turning back to hug her cousin and let loose more tears. Mira, through it all, started at the whole debacle. There was a definite look of confusion across her face, one hand clasped to the bite wound to stem the ink flow and another swinging limply at her side. She turned to face Caldwell, who was still in the shadows, looking away from the scene with a look that bore regret of some sort. She gingerly approached him, arm hooked and carrying her discarded Hero Suit. She looked up at him, and he looked down to speak.

"I'm sorry, Mira," he said, "Marie needed a first...uh, victim. And you were the only one we could expect to accept that offer. Here, let me patch up that wound. I have a few plasters left..."

"Thank you, thank you..." Mira said. She turned to look back at the two crying cousins, taking her hand off of her wound and feeling the ink roll down her back. There was a small sting as Caldwell dabbed at the puncture with some antiseptic-laden cloth, then a soothing sensation as he applied the plaster. She spoke again, her voice still carrying confusion, "So...that's Callie? That...thing?" Caldwell grunted to signify a yes. Mira gasped a little, "What happened?"

"A few hours ago," Caldwell stated as he continued to dab at the ink rolling down her back, "Callie was attacked by a wolf. Marie, bitten by a bat. Through circumstances unknown, they have transformed into creatures from human lore. A werewolf. And, a vampire. Certainly, an interesting night all around."

"Oh my..." Mira gasped again, "That's terrible! How're they gonna cope with this?"

"Not well, it seems," Caldwell snarked.

"But, I don't want Marie-Senpai to be sad!" Mira pouted, "I wanna help her! I wanna do something!"

"We're gonna need cures for these, uh...conditions," Caldwell stated, "Perhaps Cuttlefish or even Octavio might have something to share. Perhaps we can bring it up with them on Recon tomorrow."

"Wait, we have Recon?" Mira asked, turning to look at Caldwell, who replied with a shrug, "Aww maaaaaaan...can I stay over? It's too late to go back home now..."

"Oh, we all need sleep, Mira..." Caldwell yawned, "We need to approach this with clear heads and the sun in the sky. Should restore Callie to normal...for now. Mark my words, this is but the start of something bigger. Perhaps bigger than us. From here, the mythos may spread and new forms will awaken. We may see skeletons, ghosts, zombies, perhaps the return of the human race itself. This, Mira, is the beginning of something...are you listening to me?"

Mira was staring at Callie, a dumbstruck look on her giggling face, "It's like a big, fluffy puppy..."

"Oh boy..." Caldwell sighed, "Let's just get these two to bed."


	2. Meddlesome Morning

_"Yo yo yo! Good morning, Inkopolis! Welcome to another day in this shinin' city! I'm DJ Shella Fresh, your morning DJ. Until the Off the Hook duo arrive for the lunchtime slot, I'm here to announce stage rotations and play the banging tunes to start your morning off right! To all those down the gym before breakfast, this one's for you! Nasty Majesty, the perfect workout song! Take it away!"_

The sound of the angsty rap brought an odd contrast to the calm, serene morning that greeted the Squid Sisters' apartment. A long, lush stream of sunlight spilled from the closed curtains into the main room, casting a light onto a grumpy pile of blankets and pillows piled up in front of the big window leading to the balcony. The blankets were a mix of lime green and magenta, plastered with colourful images and logos of the Squid Sisters, all of the various designs from over the years on display. There was an errant, annoyed groan spilling out from under the sheets, and eventually a dainty hand reached out to slam onto an alarm clock that wasn't there, making a noise only in the mind of the squid being herself. A pillow thrown at the radio on the coffee table was enough to end the screaming disguised as singing, bringing the room to total silence.

Shrugging off all of the blankets with a grunt, she left the others sleeping around the room to enter the bathroom. She clicked on the light, for even the morning was bringing her darkness, and set about brushing her fang-laden teeth. It took all of a few seconds for the Inkling's eyes to adjust to even this light, and stare at the being in the mirror. And only then, draped in torn clothing and laden with ripped, bloodied bandages, did it all click.

"I'm...me again! I'm me again!"

Callie whooped for joy and cried in relief as she stared at the tiny little Inkling currently jumping around in front of the mirror. Yep, it was her alright; black tentacles ending with magenta highlights, yellow eyes with cross pupils, small, thin frame, the absolute works. Only now, it was not a massive, hulking, furry beast staring at her from the other side of the glass. No hideous monster with stained bandages and a snout, no. This was Callie, back to normal...if only for now, at least.

Sadly, the more topical circumstances of that little fact did not take long to reappear in her body, and the resultant wave of leftover agony crashed upon her like a wave of salt water. Every single laceration, scuff and bite mark from the previous night was still there, still raw, and uncovered by a ripping wave of bandages. Knees buckling from the pain, Callie grasped at the side of the sink to keep herself from collapsing to the floor, and struggled to get back to standing position. Gasping, she knew she had to go to the hospital. But...not alone. No, not after...that. Daytime or not, now was a good time to travel in packs.

Stumbling into the main room of the apartment once more, being careful as to not cover any surfaces in ink, she scoured the room to find her friends. Caldwell was asleep on the couch, arms crossed and legs splayed out across the couch's cushions. His Hero Headphones were lying on the floor, and he had draped the fleece jacket he wore as part of his Hero Suit across his body as a blanket. Loud snores were coming from him, and his expression displayed signs of a less than peaceful sleep. Callie sighed, he always DID say he had troubles sleeping, and this werewolf vampire...mess wasn't helping. Softly, gingerly, Callie walked over to Caldwell and shook him awake. He responded with a yell, dropping to the floor with a crash.

"Guh!" he stumbled as he sat up, "Y-Yes mother, just packing my schoolbag! I'll love him if I wanna..." he slowly came to and stared up at Callie. His face flashed orange with embarrassment, and he wiped at his nose as he slowly got to his feet, "Ahh, Agent 1. Uh, you didn't...hear any of that, did you?"

"Let's...say I didn't," Callie sighed, "Look at me!"

Caldwell re-adjusted his glasses as his vision still came to him, but he soon jumped in shock, "Oh! You're back to normal. That is excellent news!" he looked down at Callie's legs, "Or, it would be. Curious, it seems your previous state was...saved before transforming. All of the wounds have re-opened. I can only imagine how painful that would have been, transforming back."

"I don't..." Callie gulped, having felt nothing, "Wanna talk about it. I...need to go to the hospital..."

"Of course," Caldwell sighed, readjusting his glasses again, "I'll go wake the others up. Now...where are they?"

Caldwell began to stalk the apartment for the other two; Marie, and Agent 4. Or Mira, whatever worked. Hazy memories had flooded back to him from last night. The two monster girls had soon fallen asleep, exhausted by their emotional outburst. Marie was the first to conk out, nestled deep in Callie's fluffy embrace, tears mixing with the drool slowly running down her mouth. Caldwell could remember her face looked so...peaceful, even after the absolutely miserable night she had. It took a little bit too much convincing for Callie to let go of Marie's sleeping body, but eventually she was placed down upon the floor and covered in blankets and pillows. The beds would not do for tonight, owing to Callie's large frame and wishing to not disturb the sleeping Marie in any fashion. To that end, Mira would supposedly take Marie's bed - an opportunity she took with extreme joy - while Caldwell was to take Callie's but chose to sleep on the couch instead.

It did not take him long to come across the sleeping Marie, nestled in the corner of the main room by the kitchen, wrapped in blankets and a pillow nestled under her head. Her expression was still eerily peaceful considering the night, but it was clear that...something was in this impromptu bed with her. Caldwell drew back the blankets to see Mira nestled in Marie's grasp, hugging her tight and a wonderful look of joy across her own sleeping face. Marie likewise had began to cuddle her in the night, and even nibbled her ear; not out of affection, but more out of her new vampiric nature. Multiple pin-pricks littered the ear in question, along with a few strains of dried ink. Green venom encrusted Marie's lips, thankfully, so Mira wasn't any closer to transforming herself. It was clear from the red tint in her tentacles and the hiss in her snores, Marie had not transformed back. It seemed she was a vampire until further notice.

Sighing, Caldwell first woke Mira up, lightly shaking her awake. She responded with a cute moan, before her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at Caldwell, then down to Marie's embrace, then up to Caldwell again with a heavy blush, "Uh...morning?"

"Couldn't help yourself, huh," Caldwell half-joked, a small smile creeping across his face, "Now get up before she notices your little intrusion."

Too late. Marie was up in seconds, as someone who slept at light as she did would, and she caught a full glimpse of Agent Four snuggled up against her. And the holes in her ear. She let go and scuffled backwards, "F-Four! I'm..." she slowly sat up and cleared her throat, "I am...so sorry, I-"

"It's okay, Marie..." Mira smiled, dabbing at the wound with a paper towel, "Just a little midnight snack!"

"Oh Cod, don't remind me," Marie grumbled. Her voice still carried the oddly sultry tone of before, and her actual tone of voice said all it needed to about how much she hated it, "I forgot...I'm a freak..."

"Well, today we'll do something about it, won't we?" Caldwell asked, "Listen. Callie needs to go to the hospital. Her wounds from last night's attack did not heal when she transformed."

"Wait, what..." Marie called out, half-delirious. She arched over to look behind Caldwell, and saw her. Callie. Callie Cuttlefish, back to normal and in the flesh. A sudden burst of excitement overcame her and she got up, stumbled over to Callie and launched into a tight hug, "Oh, Callie! You're back to normal!"

"Ow ow ow IT HURTS OW!" Callie screeched as her wounds screamed back at her. Marie, after a beat of surprise, launched backwards and tried to apologise profusely, but Callie stopped her, "It's okay...it's okay..." she grunted in pain, "I just...need some bandages. And some painkillers...and big clothes."

"But, won't they rip off again when she...turns?" Mira asked.

"Maybe less so if we can get some professional help," Caldwell suggested, "It's better than nothing, at least."

"You're right. Let's go..." Marie sighed, getting up and getting out of the blankets. She was still in her attire from last night. She sighed, catching the stains of yellow ink and green venom staining her casual clothing. She grumbled - there was an odd vacancy of energy in the wake of the previous night. There was a feeling that the transformation had just...drained her, in multiple ways. Callie could see the miserable, existential look on her face. An expression fearful of how the future was to go down. And perhaps the next event would not make that any better. There was a brief pause as Marie threw open the curtains, blanketing the room in warm, morning sunlight...before she began to scream and sizzle. She dropped to the floor in agony, a hissing sound filling the air and smoke emitting from patches on her skin. She screamed in pain, wrestling around on the floor, "AAAAAAAA OH COD IT HURTS OW OW OW!"

"Marie get out of the sun!" Caldwell yelled, grabbing her arms and quickly dragging her into the shaded part of the room. Callie cried out in fear and quickly looked over her cousin. The damage was not exactly extreme, but very much alarming. The skin exposed to the sun looked like it had started to burn, grey patches and second-degree burns. The sizzle sound continued as her skin seemed to bubble in some areas, and patches of burnt skin and even blisters slowly formed. She seemed fearful, clearly shocked by the event, and she hyperventilated in a desperate bit to keep calm. Caldwell frowned, reaching for his phone and flipping through some of the previous night's research, while Callie continued to panic.

"OH COD NO!" she screamed, looking over Marie but daring not to touch her, "M-Marie! Are you okay?!" Marie went to answer, but a croak escaped her throat. Callie grumbled, "Never mind! Agent!" she looked up to Caldwell, tears in her eyes, "What on earth's going on, here? What happened?!"

Caldwell looked up from his phone and bowed his head, "Ah, just as I suspected. You have inherited every vampiric trait the old texts mentioned. Including, essentially, allergic reactions to the sun. Not unlike exposure to Hogweed sap."

"So what, am I gonna fry every time I'm in the sun?!" Marie asked in a delirious huff. Caldwell nodded and Marie's face twisted, "WELL, that's just GREAT."

Caldwell placed a hand upon is chin, "Hmm...we're gonna have to work around this."

"How so?" Mira asked, "Like, giant clothes?"

"Clothes that cover as much of her body as possible. Like, EVERY part of it. Gloves, scarf, jacket, hat, trousers, boots...even the facemask. Everything. Get her dressed and we'll get Cal down to the hospital. That good?" Mira and Callie nodded. Caldwell nodded back, "Great. I think we have some bandages left. Patch the wounds and get her dressed..." more nods, and the two Agents dragged the moaning Marie to the bedroom, being VERY cautious to avoid the spots of sun that dotted the main room. Caldwell saw them out, closing the curtains so they could move easier. It didn't take long after the three had exited the room that Callie's fearful sobs rang out from the bedroom. Caldwell sighed somewhat grumpily - it was obvious this was going to need a bit more help. Someone else to turn to. Perhaps...someone else who may know what was going on. He dug out his phone and dialed a very familiar number; "...Xavier? Yeah, it's Caldwell. Agent 3. Look, we need to meet you outside St. Angler's Medical Institute. Oh, and see if Pearl and Marina can show up before the lunchtime slot. We need your help on something. Something...big."

===

St Angler's Medical Institute. Or just "the hospital", for the few Inklings that truly required its services. It was a fairly new building, actually. Built in the wake of the great Octoling Emigration in the wave of that weird fight on the statue. A lot of the Octos exited the Domes badly injured, heavily diseased. There just wasn't enough to cope at first, and bad things happened. Whatever had happened in those Domes, whatever the Squidbeak Splatoon had done to "save" the city, it had left devastation in the wake of it all, and then some. The Med Institute was one of the first establishments that sprung up to cope with the sick and the injured, and it was thankfully enough to stem the tides just a little. Nowadays it still saw use, for injuries that simple on-site treatment couldn't solve. There was a good tale from a little while ago, of an Octoling who had been brought in after a Flingza Roller had cut through her leg. That was nasty. And today, it would see the service of a few injured pop stars.

Xavier smelled the air and tapped his foot as he waited for his friends to arrive. A male Octoling, the so-called Agent 8, clad in a replica of the Null Armour he sometimes had the pleasure of donning while in the middle of having his face kicked in by the horrors of the Deepsea Metro. It was a small comfort, but a comfort nevertheless. He had taken part in a horrific plan by a weird phone to liquify the world. He'd be goop himself, if it wasn't for the combined efforts of the Off the Hook duo and...him. Agent 3. His knight in shining armour...nevertheless, his musing was cut short by a cheerful call from on the horizon. A few seconds later, four people had run over the hills towards the hospital. First was Mira, Agent 4, clad in her Hero Hoodie, Snow Boots and headphones. Xavier didn't know much of Mira - they had barely met - outside of her bubbly personality and her...obsession with Agent 2. As she skipped towards the tanned, magenta Octoling, Agent 3 followed her. Good old Caldwell, a...close friend of Xavier, clad in his Hero Suit and cape. He was tapping on his phone with one hand, the other holding the hand of Agent 1. He didn't know her name, but he could tell that she was not having a good time. Pink jacket, shorts, hat, wrapped in milky bandages that were stained a darker magenta not unlike his own. She looked like she was in pain, bless her. And finally, there was Agent 2. Agent 1's cousin, supposedly, and she was...what was she wearing? Shirt, jacket, long cargo pants, gloves, scarf, Moto Boots, baseball cap, even a facemask! She looked several shades of uncomfortable, her eyes being the only visible part of her face - and they weren't exactly cheerful.

Caldwell looked up from his phone to scan the area for the Octoling, and his eyes met upon the boy, sending a small smile across his cheeks. He left Agent 1 in the care of her over-clothed cousin, then meandered forward to meet with the Octoling. Xavier, for his end, also noticed Caldwell approach and his eyes lit up like Frostfest tree lights. He grinned warmly, and ran over to the Agent. He launched into a hug with the orange Inkling, calling his name with a voice thick like glue with accent, "Caldwell!"

"Hey Zav," Caldwell cooed, returning the hug as the ever-familiar warmth erupted in his heart, "You been brushing up on your Inkling, like I said?"

"Oh yes!" Xavier said, "Miss Marina teach me new words and syntax. I...no still understand lot...of it. Yes."

"Well, you're getting closer," Caldwell chuckled, stroking the Octoling's tentacles. There was a slight air between the two before they relaxed from their hug, only to reach back in for a passionate kiss. Xavier moaned while Caldwell kept his stoic cool as they share the smooch. They broke for air, Caldwell chuckling some more, a heavy orange blush on his face, "Heh, that was...something. Missed me?"

"A little..." Xavier said quietly.

"Woah woah woah, wait a second!" Mira called out, bounding towards the two with a confused, and yet ever so excited look on her face, "You two are an item?"

"Y-Yes..." Xavier mumbled, a little blush on his face as well, "He...saved me. I saved him. We save world. We close to each other. We...owe each one to each other..."

Mira took a few seconds to process this information, before she gasped in a shrill manner and her eyes lit up like stars. She whispered hoarsely under her breath, "ohmygoshishipthat"

Agent 2, somewhat bored by the events, pushed Mira aside and approached. Xavier noticed that, upon closer inspection, she had a large backpack slung over her shoulder. She spoke, her voice tinged with a Southern drawl, "Look, while I admire the love in the air, I do kinda want to get Ca...I mean, my fellow Agent needs medical attention..."

"Marie, it's fine," Caldwell reassured, turning to his boyfriend, "Xavier, this is Marie..." he then pointed to Agent 1, "And this is Callie. Agent 2 and Agent 1, respectively. They sang the song that freed you all those two years ago."

"Really?" Xavier asked, wide-eyed, "Well..." he waved to Marie, "Hello..." Marie waved back and he grinned, "We are still waiting for Marina and Pearl. They late. They take time."

"That's alright," Caldwell broke from the embrace, "I'll get Cal into the hospital, get some proper bandages for her wounds. Marie needs to go in, as well. For...uh, burn treatment."

"Burn treatment?" Xavier asked, "Why?"

Caldwell seethed through his teeth, "This...will take some time to explain."

===

"Good evening, Doctor, uh, some people are here to see Miss Callie?"

"Those'll be our friends, Doc. It's okay to send them in. We're fine."

"Yo yo yo!" Pearl rapped as she burst through the doorway, followed by an embarrassed Marina. The little gremlin skidded to a stop in the little room, encased in a oversized pink hoodie with yellow sleeves, hood flipped up over her head to hide her features. But her rings, her short stature, her insistence on wearing a crown and...well, her spacious forehead certainly did little to disguise her from the masses. Her partner was certainly better hidden, wearing a hoodie that was not in her known colour and flipped up to obscure all it needed to. The two had entered into a small medical ward, with a single bed to its name. Sitting upon this raised bed was Callie, while a doctor was slowly wrapping her nasty nicks and scrapes in clean crepe bandages. She had a few pricks showing a few injections, and she was in far less discomfort than Caldwell had seen before. He himself was to the side, in Agent gear, watching the doctor do his work.

"Pearlie, please..." Marina sighed, "We gotta be doin' the lunch slot in a few hours..." she cleared her throat and stood up straight, towering over everyone present, "Sorry we were late. Pearlie got into some...beef, with a passing motorist."

"The guy nearly ran into us!" Pearl complained, "He's lucky I sent him off with a dang rap-warning!" she turned to Callie, " Hey, Cal! How ya doing, girl?"

"I feel like a cheese grater..." Callie flashed a weak smile as another stinging bandage was applied, "But, I'm fine..."

"Agent 3..." the doctor sighed, staring at the Inkling, "Why exactly are these two here?"

"Me and Callie need to...converse with them," Caldwell sniffed, "This is going to take quite some time. So we need to find stuff out ASAP."

"That...IS why you called us," Marina shrugged. She and Pearl grabbed two chairs and sat opposite the Agent, "...So. What exactly do you need to know?"

"Everything, like, every single thing you know about..." Caldwell slipped a picture to Marina, "These things."

Marina stared at the photo and shivered. The image was of...it was of...something. One man, doubled over, transforming into a beast. Another, clad in cape, baring fangs. Marina gulped, "Well...that's going back a year or two..."

"One of your more infamous Splatfests," Caldwell noted, "The Frightfest a few years ago. Bringing up concepts that were alien to the Inkling world for millennia."

"Werewolves. V-Vampires..." Callie shivered as she felt the painkillers course through her system, "Agent 8 says you know everything about 'em. You did the research, way more than either of us."

"Well, not just werewolves and vampires," Pearl corrected. We actually did research on zombies and ghosts, too. At least, before we found out YOU already did that. So why ask us? Like, at all?"

"We can trust you more than anyone else. Sort of, Idol Blood as it were," Caldwell murmured, which caused Callie to shiver in repressed memories, "We know the basics. Transforming, curses, the lore, the physical changes. But we need more than that. Long term effects, potential mental changes and...well, a cure."

"And you think," Pearl pointed to her and Marina, "We're your girls."

"You did the research, every facet of it," Caldwell reminded, "Most of this city forget essential things like that the E-Liter is only used by the friendless. You are our best, perhaps only source of information. That, and the only other source involves the Scrolls. And they never got any further than 'humans gone, octos bad'."

"Wait they WHAT-" Pearl started to fly into a rage, before a soft cuddle from Marina brought her down to earth. She cleared her throat, "Sorry, sorry...so, what you're saying is, you want us to help you find out how to make these curses go away," Caldwell nodded to this. Pearl remained silent for a while, before she began to grin, "Heh heh. Sounds like an adventure to me. Count me in. I mean...as long as we know WHY we're even doing this."

"Just please..." Callie sighed, "I don't...wanna be a big, scary monster again...I don't want Marie to be a...a bloodsucker!"

"...Wait," Marina gasped, "What did you say?"

"You idols...no offense, you do talk the strangest things..." the doctor mused, his face showing confused amusement, "Anyway...there, that should do it," he finished the last bandage on Callie's arm, "All wrapped up and clean. The painkillers should make sleep easier. Just take it easy for a few days, Miss Callie, and you should heal in no time. And uh, best of luck in your quest, I suppose..."

"Excellent work, thank you Doc," Caldwell shook the man's hand, "We'll be on our way. Come on, Pearl, Marina."

The four left the doctor's office, Callie at least smiling once more with a small lollipop in her mouth. Taking a left, they exited the hallway and went back towards the reception. The hallway was just like the rest of the hospital, really. Green, sanitised floors with white, speckled walls. A sort of clomping sound native only to a medical environment as they trotted down. Beeping from monitors and idle chatter from staff and soul. The air between the four was deathly silent, however. Caldwell led the group, with Callie not too far behind, though Marina soon ran up to Caldwell's side.

"So...back there," Marina whispered, her voice carrying a confused tone, "What...happened? Is Callie like...a monster?"

"Yesterday night," Caldwell began to explain, "Callie was bitten by a wolf. A creature thought long extinct, but one bit her anyway. And it bestowed the curse upon her. She is a werewolf."

"WELL that would've been nice to know before!" Pearl bellowed, before she was shushed by the other three in an overly urgent fashion. She cleared her throat, speaking quieter, "Sorry. What about Marie? What's her problem? She was covered in all sorts of getup."

"Marie was...she was bitten by a bat," Callie gibbered, holding her own sides for comfort. She looked like she was still in shock, that she was going to break down, "And she...she..."

And suddenly, there was a massive crash. Everyone jumped out of their skin, directing their gaze towards the room that had caused the crash. A room with a steel plague screwed to the side of the doorframe. A plaque reading, "Donated Ink Storage". Caldwell shuddered.

The door burst open and two beings emerged from the doorframe. Xavier, whose face was set in stony shock, and Mira. Mira, breathing heavy, turned to meet the two, her face full of fear and yet strange admiration. "Oh, there you guys are!" she shivered, her voice a blur, her vision darting from Caldwell to Callie and back again, "Thank Cod. Marie's relapsed! W-We got the burn ointment and she mentioned she 'wanted' an ink transfer for Callie, so the doc showed us this room. A-And she snapped! She went crazy, she...oh Cod it was AWESOME!"

"Lemme in, kid, I'll handle this!" Pearl boasted, shoving the Inkling aside and barging into the room. Caldwell followed, Callie stayed outside. The room was pretty small, but incredibly cold. There was a gentle hum from fans littering the ceiling and walls, blowing soft breezes onto Pearl's tentacles. And festooning the freezer, rack upon rack of packs of ink in a multitude of different colours in every corner of the room. All donated from other Inklings for those with burst ink sacs or an alternate affliction that limited their ink production. The little Inkling scanned the room...and froze almost as solid as the ice deposits in the corners, "...What the-"

There, lying amongst a splatter of ink and a barrage of destroyed ink bags, was Marie. Her facemask had been torn off and discarded, her brand new fangs on full display. The puddle of ink she was in was a mixture of different colours and types, there clearly being no judgement in type for the ravenous vampire. She moaning in satisfaction as she finished another bag of ink, venom oozing and mixing into the ink puddle, and she discarded the bag with a growl. She seemed to calm, full and pleased, though that did not last long after she turned and realised her audience. She began to gibber, her face falling into one of despair as her urges receded. She looked appalled with herself, so ashamed.

"...I c-" Marie stuttered, slowly curling into a ball, "C-c-c-couldn't help...m-myself..."

"I..." Xavier gibbered, wiping his sweaty brow, "Sudden Promise Land got shell of lot weirder..."

"And it's only gonna get weirder, if we can't reverse this..." Caldwell grimaced, "Let's get out of here before they notice."


	3. Amber Afternoon

"I'm sorry..."

"Marie."

"I'm sorry..."

"Marie!"

"I just s-saw the bags and something took over, I just...I NEEDED it-"

"It's okay, Marie...I still love you."

"Wait, what?"

"Nothing!"

"Oh my Cod, Four. Subtle."

Caldwell sighed as he sipped his coffee and cleaned Xavier's ice-cream-slathered cheek. The week was only starting, and already it was getting too weird for words. The night before was flitting from odd scene to odd scene. From dabbing splattered ink off of Callie's ravaged frame, to watching her become a wolf creature in the middle of a full moon, to watching Marie bite her chosen Agent, writhe in pain in the sun. And now, to day after, having found her in the middle of a scene from a horror film, coated in spilled donation ink and appearing well-fed. Her vampiric nature had seemingly enslaved her. She was deathly quiet as the group of Agent and Idol made quick steps away from the scene of the crime. She merely equipped her facemask, stared at the ground and briskly walked. Now it was almost somewhere approaching 11AM, and the group was situated on some tables outside of a cafe. The Greasy Fork, just outside the Square. Quiet. Barely anyone in it. Perfect.

Caldwell sat opposite the sisters; Callie covered in bandages and looking much healthier than before, Marie slowly and stealthily leaking a leftover ink bag into her tea. She dared not look at anyone while she did this. Xavier sat by Caldwell's side, eating an ice cream, while Mira just had cola. Marina and Pearl both had water, just to be safe. It was Marina who would speak first, cupping and brushing her tentacle as one of her physical tics;

"So, take it from the top...what, happened exactly?"

"Well..." Marie sighed, taking a delicate sip of her tea. She grumbled at she felt the ink separate and channel through her fangs. She swallowed the tea and started up, "I'd just gotten the burn ointment from the doc, a-and the bandages. It was gonna be a looooooooooooong recovery period. I asked if they could do any ink transfers, but they said she didn't lose enough for that, s-she was fine. We were walking back to Reception. But then...I saw the room. Chilled ink. Something took over, I just, HAD to take a look inside. And I saw the sheer amount of ink in there. So much...delectable...delicious...NNGH!" Marie gasped pitifully, grasping the side of the table, "I'm sorry, I just...my mind took off, I NEEDED that ink. I became...a ravenous beast."

"Well..." Callie hummed, "Do you...feel better?"

"...Yeah," Marie sighed, "I felt so alive after I just gorged on that ink. No more cramps, tons of energy, I felt like I ran ten miles! I felt amazing! But now, I just feel...shame. SO much shame..."

"Well, it did cause some pretty neat effects, at least," Mira said, excitedly peeling back part of Marie's jacket, "It healed her wounds there and then!"

Caldwell quickly moved Marie's arm to a section of the table that was shaded better by the canopy of the cafe. While he deigned to remember those few grisly seconds in detail, he did remember the burns and blister that had grown to the arm, so exposed it was to the now deadly sun in Marie's attempt to shield herself from the pain. And yet the arm now looked...healthy. Perfectly normal. Like it had never even been touched, let alone burned. He huffed, placing his coffee down onto the table, "Well now. Looks like we've found a boon to the Vampire condition, at least. I can only assume your feast should inhibit the cravings for a while."

"But, I don't wanna have to worry about that at all! I don't wanna be this," Marie reprimanded, staring Caldwell dead in the eyes, "I just destroyed a medical ward's ink room because I was desperate for a fix! I'm like...a junkie."

"Cool," Mira grinned.

"It's NOT cool, that's...I mean this is METAL, buuuuut also pretty weird? We can help you fix this, we just gotta-" a shrill ring snapped Pearl out of her boast, and she sighed with annoyance. Whipping her pink phone out, she pressed the contraption to her ear, "Heeeello? ...Oh, Mr Manager guy, cool...okay, sorry, Keith. What's the deal? We don't have the slot for another hour, dawg. ...Uh-huh. Yeah. I mean I guess we COULD do that, but 'Rina's got final say...what do you mean, 'pre-planned'? Huh," she lowered the phone, then handed it to Marina, "It's our Manager, babe. Says he wants to talk to you."

"What about?" Marina gulped, reaching for the phone, "Keith, what's the deal? ...Squid Sisters? Yeah, we're with 'em right now...wait, really? When?" she suddenly got really giddy, "Oh my, what an opportunity! O-Okay, I'll let 'em know! Byyyyyyyyyye!" she handed the phone back to Pearl and looked up at the duo, stars in her eyes, "That was our manager! He wants you two to talk about the wolf attack in an interview tonight, around 9PM!"

"Wait, what?" Callie called out, leading to her being shushed by Caldwell, "Sorry, low profile...but, seriously. How did they know about that? The street was empty."

"It was still in a part-a town," Marie sighed, "Guess some squiddos looked outta their windows and saw the whole thing. News spreads fast around here...'specially when it's about us."

"Well, they want the whole story," Marina nodded, "You've been invited to our uber-luxury starlight observatory stage! The whole night sky's gonna see this! And..." and all of a sudden, her expression dropped, "And...t-tonight's full moon."

It took a good few seconds just to process how bad this was. Callie took a few more seconds, because she was Callie, but she slowly folded over and began to hug herself in a bid to stay calm, "No no no no no no...it's gonna happen...i-it's gonna hurt. Everyone's gonna be watching! E-Everyone's gonna see me as a disgusting hairy beast! OH COD WHAT DO WE DO?!"

"Callie!" Marie reached out and dragged her shivering cousin into a tight hug, "I-It's gonna be alright, we can...uh, can we...fix thi-" she sighed harshly, "The LAST thing we want is to show everyone our curses! Can't we cancel this or somethin'?!"

"Keith said your agents..." Pearl mumbled, leaning in close and speaking as an aside, "You know, the showbiz ones, not the save-the-world ones..." she sat up straight, "They kinda did the deal behind your backs, the minute the word spread. Surprised y'all didn't get dogpiled on the way here! The whole city's gonna wanna see this! You can't back out now!"

"You two really need better agents," Marina said.

"Look, it'll be fine," Pearl sighed, "We can fix this. We'll do what research we can into cures on our breaks or somethin'. I suggest y'all do the same."

"I need to do more myself," Caldwell sighed, getting to his feet and fishing a few spare coins from his pocket, "Though for now, I and the other Agents must bid you...uh, later."

"Wait, you're leaving already?" Callie asked, "Why?"

"Two word..." Xavier sighed, "Recon Duty."

"Ah Coddamnit, I knew we forget something!" Mira pouted, "Your stupid gramp's gonna make us stare at NOTHING all day instead of helpin' with this!"

"Well...we might get somethin' else out of this..." Caldwell grimaced, "I wonder if that cranky Octo DJ might have some information. He's been around long enough..." a beeping sound filled the air, and the Agent checked his phone. It was a text...and not a polite one. He sighed harshly, "Carp, we're late. Four, Eight, we gotta go."

"Just, lay low, get some rest, maybe get lucky with the clouds tonight?" Mira shrugged quickly, "Uh, b-bye!"

And with a panicked clomp of boots, the three Agents lept from the cafe seats and barreled down the corridor. There was an errant, deathly silent pause as the four idols stared at each other, just a little dumbfounded. Callie's hearts were racing miles upon miles a minute, desperate for an easy way out of this mess. But...nothing. She was going either going to destroy her idol career by not showing up, or she was going to mutate in front of probably everyone in the city. There was an air of...hopelessness. The idea of reality itself twisting fortunes. She sighed...and then, a flash of a question. She turned to Marie, "Uh...you DID save some of those ink bags for later, right?"

Marie paused dripping the last drop of the last bag into her coffee, "...Well, now that you mention it-"

"Yo, I WILL cut a fish if you try to sample me or my wife, ya got that?" Pearl huffed in response.

===

Middle of the day. Nothing to do. Didn't want to return home. Didn't want to mingle with the Inkling crowd. A quiet, lonely place was needed. Tentakeel Outpost it was.

For a good year, this would be where Marie would sit in her kimono, overlooking the various parts of Octo Valley, looking for Callie when she went missing. It was a pretty filthy place, really. The rummaged, ramshackle building by the entering grate - Cuttlefish Cabin - was her home for far longer than she ever wanted it to be. But, bar the tone-deaf music spiraling out from further in the valley, it was at least peaceful. She had changed into the kimono after they got there, actually. The wonderful black-and-green robes may have brought back some form of bad memories, all of the days spent waiting for her cousin to return, but now they brought a sense of comfort. Callie was back. Callie was safe. All was well. Well, except for the mythological mutations, but that would be dealt with. In time...

A shuffle sound sent Marie out of her little funk. She was sitting by the Cuttlefish Cabin just by the entrance, the target practice...things to her right. Callie was somewhere else in the outpost, doing her own thing. Whatever that was, Marie wasn't sure. She took sip of her inked-coffee and shuddered as she felt the ink sieve into her fangs. It was a weird feeling...one that she almost kind of liked. A sense of euphoria as she felt the life-giving fluid course through her. This whole vampire thing was...horrific, but it certainly had its perks. At least the Valley didn't get much sun, kept her skin safe from its lethal rays. Weak to the water, now weak to the sun. Marie was beginning to wonder if she'd become allergic to air, just to be completely safe. Another shuffle sound. What on Earth was going on back there? Sighing, Marie broke from her seat and went towards the back of the Outpost, with all the Kettles. And there, she saw Callie. On all fours. Chasing rats across the Kettles, a panting present on her breath.

A look of pure confusion spread across Marie's face as she watched her cousin act like an animal. She was sniffing the ground near the first Kettle, looking for any sign of the rats. She was bowed over like her wolf form, hands and knees, backside high and wiggling in the air. Suddenly, a sqeak as a rat slowly shuffled along behind her, rummaging through the piles of trash littering the outpost. A shiver went through Callie as she detected the rat and she turned to face it. She glared at the rat, eyes narrowing, and a growl escaping her throat. The rat, for its part, didn't stick around and bolted for a gap in the environment. Callie then did something most unusual...she barked. A rough bark as she chased the rat to the gap, clambering on all fours like a dog from older times. She slammed into the wall, and whined a little, studying the gap the rat had gone into.

"Aww..." Callie sighed, slowly getting to her feet, "You win this round, rodent!" she grumbled in slight pain as she rubbed her knees, "Gah...that's gonna bruise in the morning..." she stuffed her hands in her pockets, and turned to face Marie. Her expression dropped from slight discomfort to...well, actual discomfort as she took in the sight of Marie in the opening to Cuttlefish Cabin. Parasol open and resting on her shoulder, held in both hands, and a look of barely-contained shock-amusement on her face. Callie stood, locked in place, shocked and unsure what to say, "M-Marie. I, uh...how long were you watching me?"

"Long enough," Marie stifled a snicker, "Getting into character a little?"

"NO!" Callie screamed defensively, her face flushing a beet red, "I-I was just...c-catching some, uh...vermin. I was keeping the Outpost clean."

"Well, this place COULD do with a clean, I'll admit that," Marie grumbled, idly kicking some of the trash into the abyss below, "And maybe install some guide rails. Been awfully quiet here since Mira rescued you. No Octo activity since then. Maybe they moved onto the next Octo expanse. Octo...Octo, uh...Desert? I'm not sure."

"Heh," Callie giggled, "So, you actually give Four credit for savin' me? Not just gonna take the credit yourself?"

"Callie..." Marie hissed. Like, literally hissing, as vampires are wont to do. She gasped, covering her mouth in surprise, before she sighed, "Look, I know I mess with Four a lot. Insult them. But, that's my thing, isn't it? My shtick. And she is annoying, and...too obsessed-"

"Absolutely," Callie shuddered.

"But..." Marie went on, "It was her skills that saved you. Not mine. I just talked smack and shot you in the face. I'm...sorry, Cal," she sighed, arching forwards, "I should've done more to save you..."

Callie whined a little. She never liked to see Marie sad. Not after she spent two years doing that. She slowly approached Marie and, unwittingly, nuzzled into her face like a puppy. She did at least give a soft hug, to which Marie returned. Callie cooed softly, "Marie. The fact you got someone to save me at all is good enough. Mira's a good kid. And she's gotten so much better under Three. She'll be like him after a while."

"Cod..." Marie stifled a smile, "I hope not."

"Oh?" Callie smirked, nuzzling further, "Do you...like her, now? You gettin' feelings?"

"F-Feelings?!" Marie cried out, incredulous. She stared down at Callie, who had just the biggest smug smirk on her face, which only flustered the squidling further. She blushed a sort of greenish-red as she adjusted the collar of her kimono, "No. N-No, I can't, I'm an idol, I can't..." she stopped her babbling, or at least it trailed off, and she stared again at Callie. She was panting again, tongue out, looking up at her with that smug look. She could tell that, if Callie had a tail right now, she'd be wagging it. Marie grumbled, "Okay, a little. I don't want that gettin' out on the late night thing, by the by. I want to RETURN to Idol stuff one day..."

"Me too," Callie sighed, "Those were the days..." she suddenly yipped in shock, to which she responded with slight revulsion, "...Okay first of all I gotta stop this animal...stuff. Second, what're we gonna do to pass the time 'til that thing?"

"Have dinner," Marie counted on her free hand, "Have nap. Simple, really. Oh, and the dinner might be done, too," she broke from the hug and walked Callie back towards the Cabin. There a set of table and chairs had been set up, two bowls full of food on the table, "It's nothing too exciting, afraid to say. Just bought something quick from the store on the way down. Mashed potato with sea pickle sausages. What those weirdos in New Inkshire call...uh, 'Bangers and Mash'," she shuddered intensely, "Gah, that is AWKWARD in my accent."

With a slight creak from the ancient furniture, the two took their places at the table. Callie peered into her food bowl. It was Bangers and Mash, alright. Smushed up, fluffy white potato in a bowl, with a ring of sausages lining it. The bowl was magenta for Callie, with her name emblazoned on it in big letters; Marie was less interested in such ego-stroking, and her bowl was grey and boring. It was a bit of a boring meal, but Callie hadn't eaten anything for at least a day and a night, and Marie was just glad to feast on something that wasn't Mira. Maybe. Marie tucked in pretty fast, taking a fork and getting some of both foodstuffs on it. She ate, moaning slightly as she did so. She was enjoying it, Callie could tell. But Callie herself was not so sure. There was just something about all of this that...didn't sit with her. She hummed and ummed and eeered, but she couldn't tell what the issue was. The food was nice, she was sure, but something about the...was it the seating? She stroked her chin, "Hmm..."

"Delicious," Marie mumbled, taking another forkful of potato; she was already halfway done, "Finally, some good food..." she paused, looking up at Callie, "Are you...gonna eat, cuz? It's gonna get cold if you don't."

"Something's off," Callie mumbled, "I need to figure this out. Let's see..." she stared at the bowl on the table, in front of her, "No..." she moved it to the side a little, "No..." she took up and sat down beside Marie, "No..." she placed the bowl on the chair, "Close..." and finally, on the floor, text facing her. And suddenly, it clicked. It just felt...right, this way. Her face lit up, beaming radiantly, "Ahh, perfect!" and before long, she launched herself face-first into the bowl. Chowing down on the food like a dog, a soft squish sound filled the room as Callie relentlessly attacked the bowl, forgoing hands or cutlery and just straight shoveling her face into the mash. She devoured it so very quickly, vocally pleased with the food, and finished in a matter of minutes. The entire time, such an act was accentuated by Marie staring at her cousin's eating habits, a look beyond confusion and veering into unknown territory on her face. A loud belch signalled the end of such a meal, and Callie sat up, patting her stomach. She spoke, her face splattered with leftover mash but with an expression of sheer satisfaction, "Aaaaah! That hit the spot! I..." she stopped, cold, staring at Marie. She looked down gingerly, a deep blush across her face, "Uh...I can explain?"

"...Can you?" Marie asked. Callie paused...then, a shake of her head. She looked like she was going to cry in her shame. Marie sighed, "It's okay. I'm startin' to wonder if that...wolf form a' yours is starting to bleed into the rest of you."

"I-I hope not!" Callie growled, mentally kicking herself in the process, "I don't wanna be a big smelly animal!"

"I thought you were-" Marie chuckled, taking an odd second to dodge the thrown food bowl coming her way. She sighed, "...S-Sorry. Some of my old, uh...idol persona bleeding in. Heh, bleed," she chuckled, "Vampire joke. Heh heh."

"I hope Three can find a way to reverse this..." Callie sniffled, hugging herself, "I hate this...how come YOU don't have any traits!?"

"What, except for the ravenous need to consume ink?" Marie asked doggedly, to which Callie shrugged a fair point, "Well, probably because most of my traits are right there on the surface, for allllll to see..." she sighed again, "Well, mainly the 'crumbling in sunlight' thing. THAT sucks. I guess I just gotta deal with this more often, for you it's twice a month? Depends on where the moon is nowadays, with such eternal high tides and-"

"Marie?" Callie asked, snapping the Squidster out of her mod, "I think you're rambling again...maybe we should get some rest..."

"Y-Yeah...yeah," Marie mumbled, "I was done with dinner anyway..." setting the bowls and table aside, she reached further into the cabin and pulled out a mattress, some pillows and a blanket. It was rough, but it was comfortable enough. She clambered into it, followed by Callie. Callie, of course, got on all fours and spun in circles on the mattress before she finally collapsed into a comfortable position. Marie chuckled, lovingly stroking her hair, "Heh. You really ARE like a little puppy, aren't you?"

"Marie..." Callie quivered.

"Relax, it's cute," Marie chuckled some more, "Heh, imagine if more of those there vampire traits come through later tonight. Like, I start hissing more, or I act all sultry or..." she cleared her throat, overacting her words, "Or vaybe I shtart schpeaking in vampire vords! Ah ah ah!"

Callie laughed heartily, accentuated only by Marie continuously stroking behind her ears, "Mariiiiiie! It tickles!"

"Heh..." Marie mumbled. She reached for her shellphone, activating the Clock app and setting a time, "8:30PM. Should be more than enough. Like, we're literally outside the studio. Huh, that worked out pretty well," Marie mused, "Alright, Cal. Get some rest. I'll wake you up when it's time."

"You not sleeping?" Callie asked.

"In a bit," Marie replied, "I'm gonna...scout a bit, yeah."

Callie went to speak, but finally shrugged. She laid her head down, growling softly as Marie stroked her tentacles - they were always soft and sensitive, she LOVED the feeling even without her feral instincts - and yawned cutely as she finally drifted off to sleep. She growled some more as she slept, occasionally batting at her ears with a pawed hand, before settling again. Marie gasped, hand placed on her heart. Callie was...so pure. Too pure for this world. She didn't deserve what Octavio did to her. Or that wolf, come to think of it. She didn't deserve ANY of it. She sighed. It was time for her to sleep as well. Not here, though. Another facet of her...vampirism was to show through. Covering Callie with the blanket and resting her head on a pillow, Marie walked over to the stone arch that separated the kettle back to the Square to the rest of the Outpost. She started to walk up the inside of the arch, feet sticking to the rocky surface as if it was magic. She got to the bottom of the middle of the arch, tucked her kimono in between her legs as to not flash Callie when she woke up, she crossed her arms across her chest, missing the feeling of wrapping herself in leathery wings. But this was close enough.

She sighed, "I will NOT be labeled a hypocrite..."

And she fell into slumber within the minute.


	4. Eventual Evening

6PM. The end of the shift for the Agents. Thank Cod. Time to see if that dastardly DJ was hiding anything.

Caldwell cleared his throat as he made his way across Sector 1. For the last six or so hours, he and his teammates had been working at their Agent roles. Well, for lack of a better word, considering that Octavio was locked away and his Octo forces just couldn't pick up the slack without him. Even Tentakeel Outpost was cold and silent ever since Mira saved Callie. And that was absolutely fine, no having to risk life and limb to save the world for a third time...yet. But it did mean that modern Agent work, even with two other people to converse with was ever so boring. The word "Recon" jumbled around in Caldwell's head, and even mentioning the word to him brought sickness to his stomach and anger to his head. Just three to six hours of staring at absolutely nothing. Of the crime-ridden, diseased filth the Octolings were forced into due to actions beyond even Caldwell's own view. No wonder they banded under Octavio once more...well, twice.

Octavio had once been in Octo Canyon for the longest time, and only recently had been moved back to the old Valley where Caldwell had started his secret agent double life. It was a rather small, dismal state of affairs; large, empty expanses, surrounded by mountains and waterfalls going on as far as the eye could see. Trash and concrete making up all walkable surfaces, and a shack made of cobbled together timber and lord knows what else sitting by the opening grate. As he passed the Kettle to the third dome segment, Caldwell turned to look at the old Captain, snoozing in his armchair as he was wont to do when shift was over. To some set up tables near the kettle, Mira and Xavier sat with cups of coffee in-hand. Mira was teaching Xavier some more Inkling, slowly going over the syntax of the language with the Octoling, who slowly nodded his understanding. Caldwell passed them all, and went on to the main attraction.

At the edge of the sector, trapped in a new, reinforced glass ball on a pedestal - DJ Octavio. The Octopus menace had been a thorn in the side of the Agency for so much longer than anyone had anticipated. Nearly flooding the surface with Octo scum, kidnapping and brainwashing Callie...no-one could stand him. Everyone wanted to see his body thrown in the water, left to disperse forever. But no-one could stand the thought of actually doing that. Except maybe Marie. That was kind of why he was transferred here to begin with.

Caldwell noticed that DJ, back turned to the outside world. He was not asleep, merely focusing on his inner thoughts...or whatever. He tapped politely on the glass orb, a muffled banging resonating in the orb and catching the Octo off his guard. He jumped, turning to Caldwell with the mother of all stink-eyes. Caldwell smirked, "Hey DJ."

"...You do know..." he grumbled, suckers up against the glass, "I could get outta this thing any day, now. Go menace you for a third time, yo. That'd be fun."

"Not if Captain has anything to say about it," Caldwell grimaced, "I think you caused enough trouble for everyone."

"For Marie," Octavio guffawed, "The look on her face when she found I remixed her cousin's brain! I wouldn't say it was my finest remix, tho. Not like there was a lot of it to begin with!" he collapsed into a laughing spree at his own sick joke, before he cleared his throat, "Chill, squiddo. I know that's not what your here for. So, Agent 3. Killer of my kin..." he slowly approached the glass, eyes a deep, furrowed yellow, "What do y'all want from me?"

"Information."

"Info on what?" Octavio asked, "Why would I tell you anythin', yo?"

"To save your own skin, perhaps?" Caldwell drifted his head to the side, assuming a sort of thinking pose, "To stop whatever affected MY teammates from affecting you."

"The shell are you implying?" Octavio asked.

"This," Caldwell said, pressing a printed picture up to the glass. It was a photograph, hastily taken from a news slot. It was...a wolf, the wolf that attacked Callie, prowling the streets. And by its side, a small black bat, flying above, in pursuit of new prey.

Octavio's eyes widened in surprise, before he assumed as smug an expression as he could, "Heh...that is some long forgotten history, squiddo. How did you even-"

"The wolf. And the bat," Caldwell growled, "They are both extinct in our times. And yet here are two prime examples. A wolf and a bat that attacked my fellow agents!" he brought out two more pictures, "Resulting in this!" and slamming them onto the orb. They were of Callie and Marie, the night before. Callie, a big, hulking mass of fur, claws and teeth. Marie, her face awash with shameful tears, skin pale, eyes crimson red, biting deep into Agent 4's neck. Octavio swore he almost got a pang of joy seeing Agent 4...seemingly in pain. But he kept his cool.

"Lycanthopy and Vampirism. Oh yeah...saw that little ditty on the news," Octavio chuckled grimly, "She made quite a scene at the Hospital. Who knew Marie was an honest-to-Me bloodsucker? She ain't no vampire squid."

BANG! A fist slammed onto the glass orb, sending a deep, resonating boom through it and the Octo. He screamed as the waves assaulted him. Caldwell seethed, "There is no way those animals lived to modern day in our world, and that bat had no problem drinking ink instead of human blood. You have to be involved, who else would do this?"

"...That telephone?"

"...Okay fair enough," Caldwell grumbled, scratching at the side of his head, "But that's not the point. When I showed you that picture, you acted...lLike you had something to hide."

"So what if I did?" Octavio crossed his tentacles and turned away, "We all make mistakes, yo. It's just that I made a bumpin' mistake beyond any other and YOU let it out!...oh, sh-"

"So you DO know something..." Caldwell smiled deviously, "Well, Cuttlefish is asleep. I'm sure he wouldn't overhear a little..." he thumped his Hero Shot against the glass, "Ink torture..."

"You nasty-bass..." Octavio growled, "Alright. I'mma drop that beat. If only for a warning sign. There's some stuff out there in the world we were never meant to mess with, kid. And I went for it."

"Talk."

"...The science-y domes. 50 years after The First Great Turf War..." Octavio began, the vivid memories already flashing in his head. He could see the labs now, "We were running low on supplies even then. My people were suffering, they wanted out. And I was prepared to do anything to get 'em out. That wolf and bat ain't modern-day, so you got that right. My cream of the science crop made 'em. We too came across records of those there mythologicals, thought that kinda power would break it down and then some!"

"I can imagine..." Caldwell shuddered, "Octolings with hulking muscle, teeth and claws. Octolings that could turn into bats and drain the very life force from a person...convert them to their side."

"You wouldn't have stood a chance..." Octavio laughed, but his expression turned sour rapidly, "And...well, neither did we. We failed, and failed hard. No Octo we used as guinea pigs could stand that rapid change. Those that didn't die right away went mad within two weeks. The mutations didn't even give us the results we wanted. Wolves weren't strong, vampires weren't bloodthirsty. They weren't even useful as foot soldiers. We torched the remains, put the animals on ice and agreed to never speak of it again."

"Why freeze the animals, then? Why not just kill them?"

"Call it a planned remix," Octavio hummed, leaning his head to the side, "Or at least, my attempt to recoup losses. If we couldn't get that stuff fixed, then perhaps we could sic the animals on you. And that...sorta happened. When you rampaged through my science domes, breakin' my beats and destroying my property...you let 'em free. They scurried through the cracks into your reality...I'm sorta surprised this only happened recently. Two years without someone turning."

"So this may be my fault," Caldwell asked, to which the wretched Octopus nodded. He grimaced, looking down. He did a lot of killing under Cuttlefish's command...could he really have unleashed a potential mythological plague on people? He shook his head, looking back up at Octavio, "...No matter. Just means it's my responsibility to fix this mess. Where's the cure to this madness?!"

"That's the problem, there isn't none," Octavio growled, "We tried everything, but the beat was too broken. The mutations changed too much. Hence why we went all mixtape-y on them. And your Squidsters changed in a more perfect fashion. So Cod knows what's goin' on with those two. Besides which, that's not my main concern..."

"The shell are YOU talking about?" Caldwell asked, pointing accusingly.

Octavio stared at the Agent for a good few seconds, then let out an ominous chuckle, "Well, turns out the worst among us were the ones that weren't even affected. A small group, a little...cult...sprang up around these freaks. They studied the lore, they got lost in it. And we found 'em in a...sorry state. Remixed beyond any Hypnoshade beat, and self-inflicted at that. They adored the dark, and all within it. They got crazy. They got dangerous. We had to lock 'em up, in the one dome you never touched...and recently, they got out again. And they're just as crazy as before...heh heh."

"A cult?" Caldwell asked, his composure failing, "What do you mean? Where are they now? Answer me!"

"OH don't worry, yo..." Octavio chuckled, "They'll find you in good time. They got real weird, real crazy, and real...powerful, in there. They messed with science in ways even I never would. Brought back things we never should have touched. All they need to do now, is to watch your little sushi-brained popstar change on that screen..." he pointed to the TV on the cabin. Caldwell turned to look at it. It was Off the Hook doing the news slot, noting their special interview with the Sisters. He turned back to Octavio, who continued, "And they'll know exactly where to go. And I'm okay this time! They can't take their revenge on me! Not when Craig wants me down here, 'cause he KNOWS his little granddaughter will drop the beat on my head if I wasn't. I'm safe..." he suddenly broke out in a little laughing spree, "They're your problem now..."

Falling into wretched hysterics, Octavio flopped around the orb, laughing manically. Caldwell grimaced, and bolted from the orb. That was...a lot. Perhaps too much to properly take in. Failed science, creepy cults, mutations...this went much deeper than a wolf attack on a street. Something was going to happen...and Caldwell knew it was going to be horrific. He grabbed his spare Hero Cape from the chair, walking towards the Kettle to the Plaza.

"Mira. Xavier," he growled, "We gotta go."

"Go?" Mira asked, "Where?"

"To the Square," Caldwell stopped, turning to look his fellow Agent in the eye, "I know enough, now. And things...they're gonna get ugly."

===

"Ladies and Gentlesquids, it's time for the main event of this evening! It's the Late Night Observatory Special, soon coming at 9PM! Please put your hands together for your hosts for this evening, Pearl Hiozuki and Marina Ida!"

So this was it. 8:55PM. Behind the walls of the Observatory in the Studio. The Great Zapfish smiling beyond the glass. Cheers and whoops from the crowd. Pearl and Marina getting into place. The white shine of the moon peeking from the clouds. This was when the whole world would see this...curse, for themselves. Callie dabbed at the sweat slowly pooling from her forehead. She was TERRIFIED, there was no getting around it. She was going to reveal this new side of her, on the news, for all of Inkopolis to see. This...monster. This beast of legend, of lore. She sat on the plum couch, mere inches away from the roar of the crowd. They were so close to introducing the two Sisters, they just had to get through the early banter first What would the people think? Would they turn on her? Burn her at the stake?! ...Wait, no, that was a witch. What was the thing for wolves, again? Silver bullet? Garlic?

A soft thump as something cold and wet knocked Callie in the arm. She turned her gaze down - it was a water bottle, fresh from the cooler. And holding it, was Marie. She was dressed in...unusual clothing. Eschewing even the kimono or the Agent gear, now she was wearing what could only be described as a sultry black dress; red velvet lining, plunging neckline, but still with Marie touches such as heavy boots and modesty shorts. She wore her hair up extra fancy, compared to even her casual moments, and had applied a deep red lipstick on the way up. She smiled warmly, speaking to Callie in her new, deeper voice, "Nervous?" Callie nodded, to which Marie sighed, "It'll be okay, Cal. If you do turn, I'll be right here with you. Just remember the procedure we went over on the way up."

"K-Keep breathing..." Callie stammered, "C-Count to three...brace yourself."

"Exactly."

"Oh Pearlie, sometimes you ARE a card!" came Marina's voice from the opposite side of the wall, "Anyway, I think it's time to introduce our guest for the evening, ain't that right?"

"It sure is, 'Rina!" came Pearl's squeaky voice next, "Ladies, and gentlemen! Put your tentacles together for your SECOND favourite idols of Inkopolis, Callie and Marie of the Squid Sisters!"

"oh carp oh carp oh carp oh carp"

"Callie, breath. In...out...in...out...good. Let's do this."

Marie took the lead, a slightly fidgety Callie behind her. The crowd erupted into cheers beyond any other as the two exited the backstage to go on the main one. Woops and hollers unlike any other, people were just SO excited to see the Sisters again. This had been the first time in six months that anyone had seen them in the ink since their got back together, and almost three years since the last FinalFest. Those who remembered missed them, and they made it known. Callie could almost feel a pang of...pride, and joy, swell up inside of her. She watched Marie blow a kiss and wave to the screaming crowd, and she did not take long to take part as well. She blew her kiss and waved her hand, and the screams increased three-fold. Some wonderful feeling welled up within her, and suddenly, all was better.

They crossed the bright, leather-set set to collapse onto the bright, leather-set couches opposite the two other idols sat at their little wooden desk. Marina sat on the main leather chair behind the desk, nursing a takeaway coffee after a doubtless long day at work, while Pearl was in the same yellow-purple splotch beanbag...thing she always sat in, drinking from a can of Beast energy drink. Both looked giddy, excited, doubtless pumped up by the ferocious roar of the crowd upon the Sisters' arrival.

"Alright, everyone, settle down!" Marina called out, waving towards the hungry crowd with both arms. The cheering ceased...very slowly, and Marina sighed, "Okay. Welcome, Sisters, to the show!"

"It's great to be here," Marie chuckled, "It feels nice to be back in the spotlight, again."

"Y-Yeah!" Callie chirped, jumping in her seat a little, "Been a loooooooooooong time since we last turned up on TV."

"Yeah, this is the first time your fans have seen you in years, yo!" Pearl crowed, leaning forward in her chair, "Been awful quiet since you released your single."

"What, Fresh Start?" Marie asked, to which the two idols grunted in approval. Marie smiled warmly and tilted her head back, "Ahh, Fresh Start. Do you know, I honestly think that was some of our finest work. Better than any City of Colour or Bomb Rush Blush. A triumph of our combined talent."

"...Y-Yes," Callie mumbled.

"So, what, would you say it trumps even Calamari Inkantation?" Pearl grinned in an ever-so-sly manner.

Marie had to restrain the chuckle, "Pfft, goodness, no. Inkantation is our masterpiece, always will be."

"It's literally changed lives!" Callie chirped again, "...Twice, actually."

"Oh, I know, don't worry," Marina giggled, tussling at her hair, stifling a cough as she did so, "Your music is...magical. Helped me get out of a...dark, dark place. Away from some really bad people. I have so much to thank you for."

"Yeah, you helped open our eyes to this WHOLE side of this city we never saw before!" Pearl chimed in, "Repairing relations between people. Part of me's sure you don't know just HOW important your music has been."

"Aww, you're going to make me blush," Marie grinned, her sultry tones ringing out amongst the studio. The flustered mumbling of some of the Inkos and Octos in the crowd was made obvious to her, and she studied the crowd around them. Some of them were blushing, staring away, entranced by the voice of the idol. Most were boys, though some girls were clearly infatuated by the sound, in a way that caused Marie's smug grin to grow ever wider. She cleared her throat and continued, "Anyway, we've been silent for a while, yes. Without going into too much detail, we were kind of growing sick of the spotlight. The Finalfest...well. It took a bit too much out of us. Our relationship. We needed to step out of focus, figure out what went wrong."

"Among, other things..." Callie mumbled, clearly distracted and staring into the floor, "B-But, we're back now! Or we will be...heh, when I heal a little more. I'd love to get back into the news slot!"

"Oh, I'd love to see that..." Marina chuckled, before trialing off and tussling with her tentacles once more. She was looking oddly pale, all of a sudden. She cleared her throat again, "So...well, you both know what you're here to talk about."

"Yes, the attack," Marie sighed, "Someone out there thought it would make great late-night footage."

"Y-Yeah...oh boy. Here goes," Callie swallowed her fear, and a little bit of her spit, and began to spin the story, "So...it was last night, actually. I was visiting Fo-...uh, a friend of mine. Walkin' home, you know. Got to Seaview Park, you know, the up-and-coming Turf War location..." Marina nodded, "And I'm outside the gates to the area, and then...and then, I hear this unholy growl comin' from the bushes!"

"Oh boy. It wasn't a Sea Salt junkie, was it?" Pearl half-joked, earning her a non-too-subtle elbow in the ribs by her partner.

"Worse..." Callie mumbled, looking at the floor, shifting in her seat, "It was...well. R-Remember that...FrightFest you held a few years back?"

"Oh wow, that's goin' some way back," Pearl, of course, knew what was going on. What had already happened. But she played along regardless, "What was it, 'Rina? Ghosts vs Zombies?"

"No, that was OUR FrightFest," Marie grumbled, flashing a sly smile as part of the act, "You been stealing our material?"

"N-No, no!" Marina giggled, "It was Vampires vs Werewolves!"

"Well, th-that latter thing is what I was attacked by! This big wolf guy that came out of nowhere!" a gasp resonated around the studio as Callie spoke, so entranced by this revelation beyond their (admittedly miniscule) understanding.

"OH my!" Marina gasped, "I thought those were extinct!"

"So do the people I turned to to sort this out," Marie grumbled, "They shouldn't be here, but...here they are. Come on, Cal. Little bit more to go."

"I'll try..." she quivered, softly hugging herself. Her mind was already washing back to the night of the attack, the wolf pouncing on her and tearing into her. She started to shake violently, breathing heavily, "I'm alright! Just...g-give me a minute..." they did so, letting the Squid Sister catch her breath and slowly calm. She did so soon enough, and cleared her throat, "Okay...well, obviously this wolf thing, he...wanted an evening snack. And my Splattershot Jr filled with pepper spray, it just...didn't do anything. It, it pushed me to the ground and just started tearing into me! Just, RIP, there goes a chunk. RRRRRRRRRRIP there's another. Then it rears up and CHOMP, it bites into my arm and goes for my neck and-"

"Callie, calm down!" Marie ordered, causing Callie to yelp in shock. She remained silent for a few seconds, then began to softly cry, falling into Marie's arms as she wrapped her arms around her, "Sssh...it's okay, you did your best. It...only happened last night. We're not in good condition to talk about it..." she remained silent herself, then, "...Wow we really do need better agents."

"Oh no..." Marina sighed, "Sounds...horrible. That wolf must have been feral. I'm...sorry, for all this."

"I...I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Caldwell," Callie mused from within Marie's grasp, "Uh, a-another friend! I managed to call him and he...chased it off..."

"Yeah. I somehow...MISSED three calls," Marie grumble, ashamed, "So when Caldwell told me of this, I came runnin'. We managed to fend off the wolf and get her back home safe...well, sorta. Give or take a bat or two biting my neck and draining my blood."

Another gasp from around the studio. Pearl chuckled, still playing along, "Don't worry, y'all. We visited the two in hospital. She's fine."

"But...th-there's more..." Callie shivered. She could feel it. In the deep recesses of her soul, she could feel the changes. The moon parted from the clouds and shone on her, blanketing the observatory in a bright white light. She cleared her throat, "The wolf gave me something...it...it gave me a curse."

Some more mumbling from around the audience. Marina took a few seconds to remember, "Oh!" she wasn't pleased, "Oh dear...is it time?"

"Yeah...it is..." Callie sobbed, "Time to see this new side of me, folks...I can feel it..." she suddenly yelled out in pain, throwing herself from the chair to the floor, clutching at her shivering self, "OH COD I CAN FEEL IT!"

"Callie, calm down! Remember the thing!" Marie called out, rushing forward and placing a hand on the growling Squidster, "Remember it?"

"K-Keep breathing...c-count to three...brace..." a scream as she convulsed, "Oh Cod..." she growled, "Here it comes!"

Punctuated with a grunt, Callie began to transform once more. The transformation was none too different from the previous night, bar the shocked idols and screaming Inklings and Octolings littering the studio. Well, some were screaming. Many more were staring, transfixed on the slowly hulking out Callie, her torso bulking out grotesquely and becoming covered in dark fur. Her tentacles stiffened and became hairy once more, and her hands and feet erupted into clawed paws. Her arms gained muscle and fur, bulking out to bodybuilder status, assisted with more stifled yelps. At the very least, Marie was able to think, she was handling this better than last time. Her legs buckled in as a floofy tail swooped out from her back, her cries becoming deeper and more animalistic. Marie placed a hand on her cousin's slowly shifting back, rubbing it gently.

"You're doing great, Cal," Marie whispered hoarsely, "Almost there..."

"NNNNGH I knOW!" Callie growled in response, barely able to keep her composure. Finally, her face distorted quite like it had before, elongating into a snout and muzzle, teeth sharp and numerous. Her eyes shifted to a fiery orange, large ears sprouting from her head while her old ones vanished. A slight crack signalled the end of the transformation, and this hulking beast slowly rose from the ashes, head flung to the sky, the moon shining on the majestic form. And, finally,

"AAAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A deft howl brought an end to the chaos, leading the exhausted wolf-being to slump back to the floor. She panted, half-growling, as she caught her breath. Marie sighed pitifully. It was over. Well, for this time, at least. Trying hard not to lose her own composure, she slithered over and slowly stroked Callie's new ears, "It's okay, Cal. It's over...are you...you, this time? How do you feel?"

"I..." Callie growled. Marie sighed already; she was in control, this time, "I feel...better?" she slowly sat up, looking at Marie down her snout, "I feel really strong and...p-powerful..."

There was a deft pause, a dreadful silence in the studio after that. The Inklings in the audience had stared on in absolute shock at the proceedings. Callie, the renowned Squid Sister, fresh from a feral animal attack, had just transformed into a muscled wolf creature. Some stared in shocked silence. Some had panic attacks. Some ran from the studio. Some were blushing vividly. The Off the Hook girls had taken to hiding behind the desk upon witnessing the transformation, and Pearl would be the first to get up. But her face showed something else. A look of...excitement, perhaps.

"Oh...my...COD!" she cried out like a kid on Christmas Eve, "OH MY COD LOOK AT HER, She's like a huge muscled puppy! AAAAA THIS IS SO METAL!" she took a running start, then threw herself onto Callie's back, nuzzling into the fur, "This is awesome! This is so soft!"

"P-Pearl!" Callie cried out, her muzzle lighting up with a heavy blush, "Th-that is...it tickles!"

"She's just having fun," Marie giggled, "...I think."

"So, this is...m-me, now..." Callie sighed, looking up as to not disturb Pearl, "I was...cursed, by the wolf bite. And now, on every full moon, I'm gonna turn into...th-this."

"And, I'm cursed too..." Marie sighed. She shrugged off some of the dress's looser material around the neck, shifting to her shoulders and exposing them and a plunging neckline for all to see. She posed dramatically, head towards the sky, bathed in the light of the full moon. She let out a wonderful hiss, baring her fangs for the studio, the cameras, the city to see. She would have flaunted her cape, had she remembered to pin one onto the dress before starting the event. She calmed, turning to the crowd and Marina, "I was bitten by a bat, and...yeah, it changed me too. Now I have pale skin, fangs, a need to drink blood...well, ink. Whatever. I am...a vampire. Hiss, and all that."

"Oh, even BETTER!" Pearl chimed in, bouncing up from Callie's back and towards Marie, "Yo this is just, so...METAL. Can you turn into a bat?"

"I...don't think so. Actually, that reminds me..." Marie hummed. She turned to the studio audience, who was still awash with a mix of feelings, "So...uh...does, anyone have any questions?"

They did. In their hundreds. People burst forward, even those who had once cowered before the transformation, sparks in their eyes. They were asking an extreme amount of questions;

"How did this happen?!" one asked.

"We...don't know," Callie mumbled, "I mean, Marie's ink might, um, be contaminated, but me? All we know is that...the myth is awakened. Or something."

"Don't you think this form is unsafe?" another accused, "You two could be a danger to us with this sort of power!"

"Oh don't worry, we've got...friends, who'll stop anything if we go..feral," Marie sighed.

"Aww come on, why would you wanna hurt something so...wonderfully curvaceous and fluffy?" another grinned slyly, "Heh heh, is your wolfie single? I can make her howl, no problem~"

Marie started hissing wildly, baring her fangs at the Octoling who had asked, "HSSSSSSSSSS you sssssstep anywhere near her and I'll drain you dry, buddy!"

"Mmm, yes please..." another moaned.

Marina slowly retreated behind the desk, "This is gonna..." a round of nasty coughs, "Gonna...be a long night..."

And indeed, the session of questions would last for a while more. About half an hour, in fact. Enough time for the magenta Squid Sister to once more become accustomed to her bipedal form, and for her to begin prowling across the studio, mingling with the audience. Some would back away in fear, some would smile like children, others would pet her ears or give her a hug, some more would ask to ride on her, and she would agree, carting them around the studio for a bit. Meanwhile, Marie would answer most of the questions, pausing here and there in order to fulfill some of the more...unusual wishes and drain the blood of a curious Inkling or two. She would collect the venom in a small cup for later disposal - she was NOT adding to the list of vampires, no matter how much some of them asked. And all of the while, the questions got weirder;

"What about that weird green venom stuff? Is it bio-degradable? Does it taste good?"

"Come to think of it, if you crave ink instead of blood, does that mean we've been shooting blood from our Splattershots all this time?"

"Does Callie drink out of the toilet, now? Does she like sea sluggy treats?"

"What even IS a wolf, anyway?"

And all of the while, Marina sat back in her chair, slumped over, slowly growing pale from the experience. She felt like death itself, a strong, horrific illness coursing through her. Every movement was slow, methodical, but nonetheless painful. Something felt like it was eating away inside of her. Like her own body was slowly pulling itself apart. Her coughs were ragged and wretched, horking up splatters of something...dark green as she did so. Her limbs ached, her eyes felt heavy, and her breath slowly became more and more ragged. She was a mess, but no-one had noticed above the fervent questioning of the studio.

Except, of course, for one. Pearl. She had long gotten off Callie and sat back on her chair, watching the chaos unfold from the desk. And she had seen Marina's healthy slowly deteriorate. Small pinprick tears escaped her eyes as she crawled over to the Octoling and slowly wrapped her arms around her; "Babe..." she whined, pecking at Marina's cheek - it was ice-cold to the touch, "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." Marina lied, staving off another coughing fit and going to return the hug, "I'm fine. I just...ate a bad sandwich, that's all. From t-the cafe..."

"'Rina..." Pearl said again, "You're looking WAY too bad for that. We need to wrap this up. You need to go to a hospital, 'Rina. You're not supposed to puke something up...THAT shade of green!" Marina went to talk, but she met Pearl's face, laced with a rare emotion; concern, "Please, 'Rina..."

"Alright..." she sighed, "You...do the honours. I'll give the closing speech. I just hope the producers don't mind."

"OH we went well past the hour slot," Pearl sighed. She got up on the desk, stomping her foot hard into it a few times. A loud, wooden thunk resonated around the studio, and she bellowed, "ALRIGHT PEOPLE, TIME! We gotta wrap this up!"

"Thank Cod..." Marie sighed, stroking Callie's ears softly, "If I have to deter one more monster-humper tonight..."

"Marie..." Callie whined.

A pale, coughing Marina got up from the desk and approached the centre of the stage as the others slowly got to their seats. She spoke, her voice a waver, "Well, l-ladies and gentlesquids. Th...th-that is proof, p-positive, that these, uh...myths that we used for our famous Frightfest turned out to, uh...be true! Werewolves and Vampires exist, and they are wonderfully f-fascinating-" a round of coughs, "F-Fascinating creatures indeed. We can only hope that we'll learn-" more coughs, "More about this, perhaps from the ancient texts. What else could their legacy be-"

A dark crack of thunder and lightning peeled through the sky as Marina succumbed. She fell to her hands and knees, overcome with a coughing fit. She was shaking vividly, pale as a ghost, breath stringy and erratic, a small pool of the dark green fluid slowly pooling on the floor - swiftly added to by a round of retching turned to vomit. Pearl's hearts - both of them - jumped to her throat, and it was a frantic dash to her partner's side to quell the panic slowly bubbling within her.

"MARINA!" Pearl cried out, "Marina stay with me! 'RINA!" she turned desperately to the audience, "Someone phone an ambulance! SOMEBODY CODDAMN PHONE FOR AN AMBULENCE RIGHT NOW!"

Suddenly, a slam as the doors to the studio from the corridor outside burst open. From them, three people emerged. One was a male Inkling with orange tentacles tied up in a ponytail, wearing a reflective jacket and cape slung across his back. The next was a female Inkling with yellow tentacles, dressed up in a ski jacket and heavy boots. The final was a male Octoling, magenta in colour, dressed in nulled body armour. Shapes and sizes that had appeared in legend for many civic Inklings. The fabled Agents of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Folklore given form.

The male Inkling stomped forward and pointed dramatically, "Get away from her, Pearl!"

"NO!" Pearl screamed.

"Caldwe-I mean, Agent 3!" Callie cried out, "What's happening?" She turned to look outside the window. The dark night sky slowly turned a shade of purple, black lightning screaming out across the clouds. She turned back to him, "What's going on?!"

"Octavio is to blame for this!" the Octoling stepped forward, "He made wolf and bat to make new forms!"

"But, he says some people got too obsessed," the female Inkling cried out, "Said they wanna cover the land in total darkness...and all that go bump in the night."

"Including...her?" Marie asked, somewhat confused.

There was a final growl, emitting deep from Marina as she slowly keeled over further, ready to collapse to the floor at any second. Her coughing continued, only getting worse and worse, and it was here that things finally began to fall apart, perhaps in a literal sense. Green mist that smelled truly abhorrent began to slowly seep from Marina's body, and parts of her skin began to literally flake off of her in nightmarish quantities, reducing chunks of her to the thinnest frame and gouging holes in her abdomen. Her clothes likewise rotted in the air, evaporating into the ether and leaving more holes from which a sickly green ink sac could be seen. One or two teeth fell to the floor, and her tentacles lost their luscious mint sheen, instead becoming matte with grey tint. Her hacking coughs turned to guttural growls as the pool of slime slowly bigger. Finally, to cap off such a gruesome transformation, the left arm slowly tore, then severed completely, landing with a splash in the pea soup. There was retch, leading to the Octoling to finally stop breathing and collapse to the side of the slime.

The studio was deathly silent, bar the flash of thunder outside. The studio audience was speechless. Some had fainted. Others had vomited. The idols stared on, floored at the spectacle. Pearl was in shock. She didn't cry. She didn't scream. She didn't explode with anger. She merely stared, slack-jawed, catatonic, at her deceased mate sprawled out upon the carpet. Kneeling, silent beyond the gentle rise and fall of her chest. Seconds passed, ones that felt like hours, a mass of scrambling thoughts. Marina lay, seemingly deceased, rotten and cold.

But then she stirred. And began to rise.

Gracelessly, clumsily, without a shred of strength or pride, the corpse slowly got to its feet. It took a few tries, seeing as one arm had fallen off, but it took one knee and slowly ascended to a sort of standing status. Even then, the posture was lacking, angled and frail. Like the body was only standing up from sheer willpower, and could collapse at any second. Moans escaped the Octoling, a series of ghastly wails that only served to scare those in the studio further as she rose. She stumbled forward, limping, limbs like noodles floating in the wind. Pearl could only watch on as the body slowly opened its eyes - eyes adorned with yellow, piercing pupils.

Pearl's two hearts skipped beats like an out-of-sync auto-drummer. Marina was a zombie. A disgusting, fetid rotten beast that she knew Marie had once vouched for in the first Frightfest. They were legend. Mere word of mouth. But now...they were real. The zombie moaned loudly, looking around aimlessly, whatever left of its brainpower seemingly doing cartwheels to search for food. It turned. It looked at Pearl, somewhat hungrily. It moaned again. It took a few steps towards her. Pearl yelped in shock, catapulting herself over to behind the desk, bringing out a pink and gold Splattershot. She aimed, in fear.

"Marina!" she called out, "I-It's me, Pearl! Your best friend...s-snap outta it, 'Rina! I know you're in there. I KNOW you can fight this! But, d-don't think I won't splat ya if I have to!"

"That feels..." Caldwell mused, "Weirdly familiar."

"Agent 3, what the shell is going on here?!" Marie demanded, "Status Report!"

"...Unspeakable things," Caldwell grimaced, "The perversion of nature."

"_Oh...I would not call it, perversion, no. Not, unspeakable. Perhaps, moreso, the beauty of the night itself..._"

Callie's ears perked up and she let out an automatic bark in response. She didn't remember much of the hellscape that was being under Octavio's control, but she remembered enough to recognise Octoling language...or more specifically here, an Octoling trying to speak Inkling. Miserably. She sniffed the ground, slowly padding towards the middle of the room. She looked up to the ceiling, panting.

"This ain't right..." she whined, "This isn't Octavio."

"_Oh, it is not Octavio, no,_" the voice called out again. The reverb on it sounded ethereal, almost...demonic. It came from nowhere, but spilled out into the entire studio. The Inklings in the audience panicked further, trampling each other in an attempt to escape - a fruitless effort, either way. Marie tried to calm them, but only some would heed the advice, "_As you can see, your Marina Octoling has...ascended. She has, become a beauty example of our plans. A lifeless, lifelike body. __**New**__ life. She is the first. The first of our brand new kind, superior to Inkling scum. We shall prevail in our destiny_."

"SHHHHHHUT, UP!" Pearl exploded, throwing herself to the top of the desk, "You jokers come here, you mutate MY friends, you kill MY PARTNER! You don't get to boast like this! Who even are you?!"

A slight chuckle, "_We, we are...The Mages. The Mages of the Sunless Sky. And tonight, we blanket your pitiful reality...in glorious twilight._"


	5. Dastardly Dawn

"Okay," Pearl sighed as the elevator descended, "You three better have a real good explanation for what is going on!"

"If we don't act fast," Caldwell gulped, "...Pretty much the end of days."

"Helpful."

Marie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as the gentle hum of the elevator filled her ears. This night had not...gone well, at all. All it had to be was a little get-together of the Idols, get this literal witchcraft off of their chests, all would be well. That was the plan. But alas, it just was not to be. Now the city had quite literally gone to hell overnight. From the glass elevator walls, the group could see well into the Square below them. A dark, purple fog had spilled out into the streets below, blanketing the hapless Inklings and Octolings below in dank, corrupting night. The effects were not immediate, perhaps, but an errant howl or hiss would sometimes escape the crowd and penetrate the glass. More vampires, more werewolves. The myths were being awoken once more.

The group by now was sizeable. Callie, of course, the start of this madness. She was huddled in the corner, sometimes pawing at her wolf ears with her hind leg, whimpering as she stared at the chaos below. Marie herself was next, and already had she unpacked her Emergency Agent Gear and was hastily throwing it on. Caldwell was busy holding a panicking Xavier close, peppering his forehead with small kisses and slowly running a hand across his head tentacle. Mira was instead staring at Marie slowly undress, drooling and blushing. Finally, Off the Hook. Pearl, fuming and tearful, slowly dressing into her hoodie and other crown. Marina, a zombie, chained to the spot and slowly staring at Pearl's forehead like it was a buffet dinner.

"Look, just...go over it one more time..." Callie sighed, "Who are these guys? I don't remember any Mages of the Sunless...whatever it was."

"And if they were active in the Canyon, I or Four would have seen it," Marie snapped, flipping her cap on, "So, what did that disgusting mass of tentacles tell you?"

"Well, my hunch was correct," Caldwell spouted dryly, wiping at his Hero Shot and twiddling with the new sights, "This is all Octavio's doing. Said he was trying to recreate those old myths to give his troops the edge on the battlefield. But the experiments went wrong and the project was shelved."

"Hmm," Marie stroked her chin, "Perhaps there's something in their...form, I guess, that rejects the change."

"Seems that way, a something Inklings seem to lack," Caldwell noted.

"Hey!" Pearl fumed, causing everyone to look at her. She had just finished slipping on her rings and was reloading her custom Splattershot. She looked furious, "If THAT be the case, how come SHE mutated perfectly, huh? Why did it work on her?"

The team glanced briefly at the zombified Octoling, still locked in place and staring at them. An errant, strained groan of "Braiiiins..." escaped her. No-one dared to look at her for more than a second or two. It was...a horrific fate.

"Maybe they've tampered with his work to improve it?" Mira shrugged, "It sounds like they were in there for a long time..."

"We heard...story," Xavier said, his voice a whisper, "Of Octoling Elite type, devoted to dark night and scary monsters. They crazy, refused to listen to DJ. Wild Card..."

"The only ones he couldn't control," Caldwell grimaced, "Enough to lock them away for decades. An entire sub-civilisation of crazed fanatics, unbound by forced direction..." he frowned further, "That makes them more dangerous than Octavio's puppets could ever be."

"Then we gotta fight!" Callie growled, getting up and bounding towards the team, "It's just a bunch of crazy people, we can take 'em! We gotta stop them...before anyone else has to share this curse with me."

"Callie's right," Marie said, somewhat more confidently, "One werewolf and ONE vampire is bad enough. Having a bunch of them sounds like a meltdown just waiting to happen..." She shrugged on her jacket, "We gotta get in there, take 'em down...and if possible, find a cure for all this. Before it spirals out of control."

"Just tell me where to point this thing," Pearl grumbled, aiming her Splattershot, "I'm gonna make these guys pay for what they did to her."

There was a sudden jolt as the elevator ground to a halt. Outside the walls now was a grandiose reception and waiting area, corridors leading off to all sorts of rooms; "GROUND FLOOR - " the elevator's VA beeped, "RECEPTION, EXIT, GIFT SHOP."

"Gift shop?" Callie pouted, "We never got a gift shop in OUR studio..."

"Cal," Marie said bluntly, causing the wolf to yelp in shock and refocus. Marie dipped one final time into her bag, reaching in and plucking out a small sort of...black and green object with a handle. With a deft slap to the side, the object unfolded; a pistol grip, trigger and a number of hoses and valves shot out of the bottom. A long barrel ending in front sight and barrel extension to the front. Marie screwed on a small tank that was also in the bag to the back, and gave the weapon a heavy pump to charge it. She slung the newly set up Hero Charger across her back and turned, "Alright...I'm ready."

Marie was now encased in her old Agent gear; white shirt, black shorts, green trainers, green unzipped hoodie, and a green cap to hide her tentacles. In her hands, a white mask to go across her mouth, hide more of her features. No longer was she Marie, Squid Sister and vampire. She was now Agent 2 of the Squidbeak Splatoon. Mira couldn't help but blush as she spoke, "W-Wow, you...look, like, REALLY pr...pretty."

"Mira, not the time," Caldwell said. He dusted off his Hero Shot and opened the glass doors, "Okay then. Let's go take back the night."

===

The sound of screaming met the Agents' ears as they tumbled out of the studio and into the Square. All around them was chaos. The once black night had become overrun with a purple haze, stretching far into the sky. The fog permeated the air, blanketing the air and reducing visibility substantially. Fires dotted the Square, letting a warm glow and some semblance of light into proceedings, while screams and sirens could be heard, far off into the distance. All around, Inkling and Octoling alike were stumbling; half-blinded, seemingly wounded, in pain and confused. A scent of burning filled the air, it felt like a bomb had gone off below. One of the Inklings, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and trainers, stumbled forward towards the group, then twisted and collapsed to the floor. There was a ripping of cloth and an unearthly growl as the Inkling transformed into a wretched wolf not unlike Callie, bursting out of his clothes and hunching over as fur overtook him. A final howl filled the air, and it looked at the group hungrily.

Xavier took the initiative, unloading his Grim Blaster into the beast. A well-placed shot splattered it with magenta ink, a howl of pain coming from the creature, but it did little to stop or deter it. It growled, pouncing for the Octoling, who shrieked and dodged as it bounded through the team. Callie was next, rushing forward barking madly, pouncing on the new wolf and tussling with it. She successfully wounded the being, throwing it to the ground and roaring at it. The wounded wolf responded by whimpering as it retreated.

"Dang..." Callie sighed, panting heavily, "...That...that happened..."

"Interesting. Hard-wired responses to fellow lupine competition," Caldwell hummed, "Real Fight or Flight type stuff. Should come in handy down here."

"What, can't we get them to follow her?" Mira asked, "Like she's the first, so she'd be the Queen or something, I dunno..."

"That's not how it works," Caldwell grumbled, "Besides, there was something...off, about that one," he quickly scoured the Square for another mutated Inkling. Already, a good portion of the populace had screamed their way into this rebirth, assuming these new forms. Inkling or Octoling, Male or Female, all were bulging into feral wolves or slimming into pale bloodsuckers. Some especially unfortunate individuals had done what Marina had done, rotting to the floor and rising again as the undead.

Pearl studied the wasteland in front of her, desperate to keep her cool despite everything. She was shivering, half in rage and half in fear, eyes trembling as she locked onto one of the freshly birthed werewolves. A female, orange fur and highlights, chowing down on some of the spilled Schwaffles coming from Crusty Sean's hastily abandoned truck. It stopped, turning to look at the two, its eyes a glowing blue. Pearl grimaced, "Those eyes...those don't look like Callie's."

"They're not..." Marie said, "Even after all this. What does this mean?"

"I think there was something about that first night that was a fluke," Caldwell stated, "Those eyes...I remember now. Callie flashed them when she first...transformed. They went away again when she calmed. I never even noticed until now, never put those pieces together. These people are not acting of their own free will..." he frowned grimly, "Somebody is controlling them."

"This has gone to Shell..." Callie gasped, "We gotta do something! Time to get serious! AGENTS! ASSEMBLE!" she growled, turning to face the Agents. They lined up, one after the other; first Marie, then Caldwell, then Mira, then Xavier and finally Pearl at the end. Agent 1 turned to them all, "Alright, we're Agents, so what do we do first?"

"Secure the site and supply relevant equipment," Caldwell noted.

"Search for innocents and survivors and get them to safety," Mira barked.

"Eliminate all hos...hosst...uh, bad men!" Xavier struggled.

"CORRECT," Callie barked, literally, "Three, Four, Eight, get to Tentakeel Outpost and procure supplies. Gas Masks, armour, Specials, that kind of thing. Scour the city for non-infected, get them to the Outpost for safety."

"Yes Ma'am!" Caldwell saluted, making a mad dash for the grate to the Outpost. Mira and Xavier followed suit, all transforming into squid form and slithering down the drain to the Canyon.

Callie then turned to Marie and Pearl, "That leaves us. We're going deeper into the city, we're gonna find whoever these Mages are and bring 'em to justice!"

"Dang," Marie sounded impressed, "You got serious fast."

"This is the kind of emergency that calls for that," Callie huffed, "This...body is a curse, it's misery! I ain't gonna let anyone have to suffer like this."

"Same, frankly," Marie sighed, "No-one deserves frying in the sun like me. Let's go find ourselves a bad guy."

"Can we go already?!" Pearl growled, fists clenched, "I'm gonna smack these bassholes so hard they're gonna see up their own backsides! LET'S DO THIS!"

With such a war cry, added to by Callie howling at the shadowed moon, the three turned and ran headfirst into the deeper parts of the city.

===

"Callie, we've been walkin' around for too long! You two ain't lost, are you?!"

"No, we're just...yeah, okay, we're lost."

"This place is...chaos. Everyone's mutating, riots are breakin' out. What do we do, Cal?"

"I...don't know. Pearl?"

"WELL. These guys are one for theatrics. They'd find a fitting place to set up shop, to watch this mess unfold. They'd also need somewhere with a nice big structure to observe the entire city...somewhere to store all this fog and gas...somewhere quiet. Somewhere easy to get to. And most importantly, somewhere where they could relay that signal to gloat at us from half-way across the city."

"I'm gettin' deja-vu. You know where I think we're heading, Callie?"

"Oooooh yes. There's only one place in this city that fits that sorta thing. Alright girls, let's head for the Plaza!"

Inkopolis Plaza. For many, this is where it started. It was where many fresh Inklings would discover the joy of Turf and Ranked. Where Callie and Marie would get their first big break into stardom. Where Caldwell, trying to dislodge a ChocoNut Bar from the vending machine, was whisked away by Cuttlefish into a world of Agency. It was the origin point for everything. It made too much sense for it to be the origin point of this plague - especially if Octavio was somewhat to blame.

The Plaza was still in decent enough condition, bar the heavy fog. The green tower still stood proud, stretching into the sky. The Great Zapfish had long migrated to the Square, and it was in no danger of being infected, supposedly. So the tower was bare, somewhat rusted and faded with age but still standing. The area was littered with fires, less than in the Square, the shops long boarded up. The grate to Octo Valley had been completely destroyed, iron shreds ripped from it, signs of a hasty entry.

There was a clatter of claws against the tarmac as Callie jumped the wall separating the train station to the plaza, landing with a thump and a skid, stopping at the weird circular symbol in the middle. Marie and Pearl had clung to her back, Pearl being the first to dismount and scan the area for hostiles. Marie stayed on a little longer; wow, Callie really DID have super soft fur. Nevertheless, she too jumped off and aimed across the Plaza, Hero Charger in tow.

"Checking left side..." Marie scanned the area further, checking rooftop and shop window, "No sign of hostiles."

"I got the right," Pearl backed up, checking the old studio and the various nooks and crannies beneath the walkway, "...Nope, nothing."

"Alright, we're clear..." Callie growled, "For now. I guess we better head up the tower, into the studio. See what we're dealing with."

"Never the mind, young Sister. We will be showing ourselves..."

There was a flash of light and a puff of smoke, blanketing the three in even more of the ghastly fog and obscuring vision in every direction. Pearl held her breath, desperate not to breath in the same fumes as those infected downtown, while Callie and her cousin let out belting coughs as the fog irritated their beings. No further changes, surely due to previous mutation, but their eyes stung and their mouths ran dry. When the fog cleared, there was a staggering sight; twenty-five Octolings surrounded the three, tentacles drastically cut down from the Elites of the domes, dark purple in colour. Not that such was all that noticeable, as each and every one of them was wearing a large, cream white robe that covered all of their features, hoods obscuring all but their faces. And in the front, just in front of the doors leading to the lobby, was their leader. Her dress was even more ornate, coated as it was in purple trimmings and belts across the torso. Her hood was bigger, obscuring all but the lower part of her face, her smiling mouth baring fangs. And lastly, above them all, was a large, magenta Octopus tied up with rope and hanging from a lamppost. He struggled, called out, but to no avail.

"Oh, they have arrived. The prodigal sisters," the lead Octoling spoke, "It is as our prophecy has foretold to us."

"What is the meaning of this?" Marie demanded, "Who are you people?!"

"Did your Agency friend not tell you every thing?" the leader spoke again, a small smile creeping across her face, "Perhaps you would like to hear it from the beak of the man who made us..."

"Cut me down, you maritime miscreants!" Octavio growled as he danced around in his bindings, "Aah, I should've splatted the lot of you when I had the chance!"

"Dang it, Octavio!" Marie seethed, stepping forward, "How many times are you gonna cause us grief? How many times?!"

"Calm yourself, Squidster," the leader chuckled, "We dare say this is one of the few times he has done something right. By now, you know story, yes? We were witness to creation of new life. Of well-built beasts and those who would drain life force..."

"They were failures!" Octavio screamed, "YOU were failures! You guys went nuts over mutated blobs. That's THEIR job!"

"All of your plans have been failures," the leader retorted, "Kidnap old sparring partner. Failed. Kidnap Squid Sister and have her lead other into certain death. Failed."

"Not for the lack of trying..." Callie sighed.

"Sealing us away in case you needed us...failed," the leader growled, "You may see failure. For that is all you ever were. But we read the sacred texts. We looked, wondrously, into the void. We saw those magnificent beings of the night, and we..." the leader tore down her hood, showing her tentacles and upper face - both scared with eldritch symbols etched into the skin, "We saw the paradise you promised."

"Killing and corrupting my kin ain't a good interp of Paradise, sister," Pearl snarled, "You just sound like a buncha lunatics to me! You...hooded...uh, th-thing!"

An errant hum brought the leader's attention back to the three in front of her. She spoke softly, "Oh, excuse me. I have not introduced myself..." she brushed a scarred tentacle aside, "My name is Zamantha. I lead the Mages of Sunless Sky, for I kept the sacred texts, the research...close to my heart. They chose me. And now, I see you all, in the skin. Callie...oh, wonderful Callie," she giggled, slowly stepping towards the wolf. Marie hissed a threat, but she was ignored. Zamantha placed a hand upon her snout, "Me and my kin saw you. When Octavio sent that harpy to...well, make you suffer. You relented so easily...placed those shades upon yourself. A mockery of you. I thought you would have submitted to our rule, much easier. But, I suppose you...grew on. You broke free and forced our hand."

"Caldwell was right..." Marie gulped, "You're controlling these people. Wh-why?!"

"We escape Dome," Zamantha dodged an errant swipe of Callie's claw, slowly and softly stepping back to her post, "We promise Paradise, many years ago. But our leader was a failure. Beaten twice. By children!" she looked up at the enraged octopus and hissed, "We spent so...so long in that Dome. I was born there. My friends and family, malnutrition and sickness took so many. But with the old sciences of the foolish octo repurposed, I will attain the Octoling Paradise on the surface, the one, we were promised! And I shall do it, my way. I shall repopulate the surface, with all manner of beautiful beings. I will cast this city into the night. Into the future!"

"We can't let you!" Callie screamed, baring her fangs and claws, "Endless night, everyone staying like...m-me, forever! I can't think of anything worse!"

"Well, sadly, it is too late for you," Zamantha grimaced, "As test subjects, you failed us. You were not loyal. You were not destructive. You view your gifts as...a curse. We have no need of you. You will not live to see the dawn. And as for YOU..." she pointed to Pearl, "Your services have worn dry. Your friend was a successful testbed for our latest work...nothing more."

"You HARLOT!" Pearl screamed, a red flush across her face and spittle flying from her foaming mouth. She was spasming, jumping up and down, scrambling about in pure rage. With unprecedented speed, she took off, sprinting towards the Octoling, Splattershot in tow, "YOU'RE GONNA REGRET MESSING WITH ME AND MY FR-"

*BWOOOOOOM*

An echoing thud drowned out Callie's screams as a piano smashed into the small Inkling. The dreadful racket of piano keys slamming into concrete flooded the area, smoke billowing from the impact and sending fragments of ivory and oak wood flying everywhere. The smoke soon cleared, and underneath, was a splintered mass of piano, no sign of the Inkling crushed underneath were it not for the small pool of pinkish ink slowly dribbling from the crater. Callie felt like she was going to be sick - Marie was - and Zamantha simply giggled.

"Okay, so, I lied a tiny amount..." she chuckled, "She was a test subject too. The people bringing our gods to attention of Ink kind...how fitting. NOW!" she turned to the two again, "I am...afraid, we cannot let you live. And so, we shall end this. Here, now. Lower the Octo King."

With a yelp, the rope suspending Octavio went slack and he collapsed to the floor with a squelching thud. He tried to run, but was caught by the tentacles and dragged to the centre. He thrashed against his bindings, "Untie me! You won't get nothing from making ME squeal!"

"On the contrary, Mr Tavio..." Zamantha smiled, slowly reaching for something behind her back, "You shall be our...final test subject. Bringing back our common ancestor..." she brought out the object. It was a syringe. A glass syringe full of a glowing, green liquid. She slowly, softly injected that liquid into his body, "For tonight...we become monsters."

It took a minute or so for the injection to take effect, a struggling Octavio yelling as the other cultists held him down. But before long, his screams turned deep and voided, like a beast from the dark realm crying out. The cultists lost their hold and ran, retreating into the old studio. Octavio could barely get out a, "No, NO!" before a bulbous mass erupted from his back with an unholy ripping sound. Whatever was left of the old Octavio was soon ripped to shreds and cast aside as a new, massive tentacle being slowly writhed its way out of the the skin. A giant mesh of magenta blubber and tentacles, each thicker than tree trunks, slamming into the Plaza and destroying parts of it. The head slowly revealed itself, two glowing yellow eyes slowing pushing out from the frame. After all of that, a giant octopus now sat dead centre in the Plaza, staring down at the two Agents with rage in its eyes. The Kraken.

"Oh dear..." Callie gasped.

"RUN!" Marie screamed, inking the ground in front of her and swimming away at top speed. The Kraken roared and raised two of its massive tentacles to bring crashing down on the Plaza. Callie whimpered in fear and bolted, bounding quickly past the shattered piano and to the same clearing at the back of the Plaza as her cousin had. The corner with the sewer grate and vending machine - which still had food in it, amazingly.

"Well, this didn't go to plan..." Marie growled, "Gah, I can taste his ink from here. It tastes like...it tastes like your socks!" Callie looked almost offended, but she resumed her scared look. Marie grumbled, "Well. Looks like this is it!" she readied her Charger, "Right, I'm going to splat his tentacles. You try to get up to his head and...uh, go for the eyes. Cal, you know if you can still spew ink in this form?"

"...No?" Callie shrugged, before she shook her head and growled, "Well, only one way to find out! Let's get this guy! Uh, again!"

With a battle cry, the two rushed forward and started attacking the beast in any which way they could. Marie was the first into the fray, charging up and firing a stream of ink from her Charger. The blast zoomed through the sky, narrowly missing one of the swinging tentacles and slapping to the ground with a splash. Marie dashed across this line of ink, zooming to the bench in the back and hopping onto it for another shot. This one rang true, slapping into one of the tentacles and burning a small patch on it pretty badly. There was a screech from the Kraken as steam hissed from the wound and the tentacle greyed in the impact zone. Callie took her opportunity and zoomed forward, bounding across the pavement on all fours, before reaching out and slashing wildly at another tentacle with both clawed hands. Large green gashes spread across the tentacle, and the Kraken roared in pain, but that was all. The tentacle was raised and swung, smacking Callie aside with a dog's whine.

Marie cursed under her breath, and increased her pace. Grabbing some Hero Bombs from her ink reserve, she threw them with wild abandon at the tentacles, trying to fry as many of them as possible. The trick paid off, with the bombs going off in a colourful, cacophonous symphony. The steady stream of corrupted red ink slathered one of the tentacles, and it couldn't take it. It exploded in a massive downpour of foul-smelling green ink, causing another screech of pain, and it swatted at Marie in its throes. Another tentacle slammed down on the Plaza, cracking the concrete, which Callie dodged and began to clamber up towards on. Her claws sank deep into the tentacle as she screamed her way towards the head, stopping to dig in further when it tried to shake her off. Regaining her balance, she finally got up to the head and swiped at it, this way and that, but yelped in shock all the while. She lunged for the eyes, but was swiftly swatted aside and landed with a crash back on the Plaza floor. She got up, stars circling her head, as she saw some of the tentacles slowly reforming with time.

"He's growing them back?!" Callie gasped, "It takes us weeks to do that sorta thing! This guy's tough!"

"This isn't getting us anywhere!" Marie hissed desperately, dipping her Charger in the ink to refill it, "We gotta stop this NOW!" Both cried out in pain as a tentacle slapped them both aside, landing on the bench at the back and shattering it into wooden fragments. Marie got to her feet first, but she was too winded from the attack to get back in the fight. She aimed her Charger desperately, trying to snipe another tentacle, but one slammed down on her and punted the Charger across the Plaza. She reached for it pitifully, "No!"

Callie, meanwhile, was crumpled in the corner. She felt helpless, hopeless, like she was going to cry. Everything had just gone by so fast. One minute she was waltzing home after a nice conversation with the gal who saved her life, and now suddenly half the city was dead and mutated and an evil cult was overlooking an evil mutated Kraken that was about to kill both of them! She so desperately yearned to stand up, to fight with pride like in the older days, but...she couldn't. Not with this body. Not in this scenario. Not...now. She wanted to run away and hide, perhaps not just physically.

'_CAAAAAAliiiie..._' she jumped as an echoing voice rang throughout her mind. It was...her voice. At least, it SOUNDED like her voice, but with heavy reverb and a sinister tone. It spoke again, '_SUBMIT to your new nature, Callie..._'

"What the..." Callie got to her paws, "Wh-What was that?!" Suddenly, an intense feeling rushed throughout her entire mind, causing her to grip her head in agony. Like some poison was rushing through her brain, like an acid slowly dissolving it. She cried out, "NNNGH! My head!"

"Callie!" Marie called out, reaching her hand out. She tried to approach, but she was once more slammed into the ground by a tentacle, one freshly grown. Now the tentacle slowly wrapped around her; starting with the legs, then her torso, finally her neck as it dragged her towards the beast's bulbous face. Marie cried out in pain as she could feel the tentacle tighten around her neck, cutting off her air, "Gack! Get...off...me!"

"Marie!" Callie cried out, reaching out a paw in a futile attempt. Another wave of this mental poison crashed through her, forcing her to all-fours once again. She convulsed on the spot, her cries turning into deep, stunted growls, "M...MARie..."

"C-Callie!" Marie cried weakly, tears spilling from her eyes. She looked back with all of her waning strength, "Wh-What's...happening..." she grasped at the tentacle, her vision slowly going black. "H-Help..."

'_You can save her...you can save them all..._' the voice whispered again, agitating the wolf and causing her to leave a crack in the pavement from slamming her fist down on it, '_You just need to let...go..._'

"No! NO!" Callie screamed, trying to get the voice out of her head, but...to no avail. A dark mist descended upon her eyes, her body going limp and numb. She felt an odd draining feeling as her conscious...escaped her. She screamed out a final time, before any semblance of her was gone.

"Ahh...AAAAAAAAAAAHHHWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The voice cackled, ever so slightly. She softly whispered into the foaming wolf's ear, '_Much better...now, little wolf. Go. And KILL._'

With a roar, the wolf bound forward towards the Kraken. It responded with a growl of its own, and a tentacle slamming into the ground. This time, the wolf tanked it, instead climbing onto it and slashing wildly at the appendage, before rearing up and biting into it with sharp teeth. A deep scream erupted from the Kraken, but the wolf was not letting rushed the tentacle holding her cousin and repeated the process, slashing wildly at the appendage until it failed and sent the Squidster crashing to the floor. She bounded up, slashing into the Kraken and leaving deep gashes as she clambered up the body, before she jumped over to the left eye. She wasted no time whatsoever ripping the eye to shreds, green ink splattering in every direction. The Kraken screamed again, but the wolf had already clawed around to its right eye and totally destroyed that one too. Finally, the beast roared in fury and plunged a paw directly into the Kraken's head, scrambling...something, in there. The Kraken could not keep up and, with a final withering roar, collapsed to the Plaza floor.

"C-Callie..." Marie coughed, her vision blurry and her head pounding. She looked up, hand pressed to head, trying to take in what she saw. There lay the Kraken, seemingly dead, with Callie still tearing into it with a pained roar, ripping chunks out of the body with her teeth. Marie yelped in shock and got to her feet, "Callie, stop! CALLIE!"

The beast finally stopped. She slowly turned at the Squidster, growling? Who was this...creature? Friend? Or foe? She could hear the voice in her head, '_...She is one of ours. She is friend._'

"...C-Callie? Can you hear me?" Marie quivered, slowly and gingerly approaching the wolf with baited breath and shaking hand. She was almost face to face with her, staring into her eyes. But, she wished she hadn't. There was no trace of their iconic eyes in there, no yellow with a cross pupil. Instead they were...blank. Pale. Befitting her snarling expression, not at all unlike her old form. It didn't take long for Marie to connect the dots; "N-No...you haven't...Callie! Are you still in there?! PLEASE!" Nothing. Just a growl, then an almost disappointed expression as it softly circled her. Marie sunk to her knees; Callie was...gone. Her mind had truly run away. She didn't even know what to feel, yet. What to do. She wiped at the tears in her eyes, "...Callie...I'm sorry..."

"Whew...that was close. Okay, I'm back in the fight, girls!" came a voice from somewhere off in the distance. Marie snapped out of her funk. She looked up and stared on, in horror. There, floating above the shattered piano, was Pearl! A...translucent, floating Pearl with no legs, just a torso that ended in a sort of wispy tail. Had she just woken up?! Pearl looked on. her face born of confusion as she stared at the two girls shocked before her, "...G-Girls?" she took a few seconds, then looked down, "...WHAT THE-" she screamed, twirling around in place to look all over herself, "I'm a...holy carp I'm a ghost! I'm a spooky spectre floatin' around and stuff..." a few more seconds passed, and her face lit up, "...Awesome! Say...what, happened?"

"They got the jump on you..." Marie said, her voice hollow, "They flattened you with a piano...they mutated Octavio, they..." she choked up, "C-Callie...she's gone."

"Gone? What're you...oh my Cod..." the realisation hit Pearl like a ton of bricks, "I-I'm dead. I'm dead! I'm crushed underneath a million splinters and I'm gonna spend the rest of time as a floaty thing who can't touch anything!" small, pinprick tears formed at the corners of her eyes, "I won't be able to touch 'Rina again...I mean, I wasn't planning on it as she's kinda...dead, but..."

"Oh, look at that..." came Zamantha's booming voice, spread out across the city through a series of speakers bolted and wired up to the tower. The three down below jumped and turned to the tower in question, "The final tests were a success. The gremlin has become the ghoul. We are ready."

"ZAMANTHA!" Marie screamed, her voice full of rage, "You...you poison my town, kill my friends, lobotomise my cousin! I'm gonna end you for this!"

"Yeah, give it up!" Pearl boasted, "We've beaten WAY stronger than you!"

"You beat up an incompetent DJ and a genocidal telephone..." one could almost hear the half-pity, half-amusement in Zamantha's voice as she spoke, "As Agency goes, you have none to speak of. You are not prepared for the endless horrors of the dark. Our reach into the mist is not only of the sciences. We have gone...further."

"What the shell is she talking about..." Pearl asked Marie, before she turned to the tower once more, "What the shell are you talking about?!"

"Your tests had another purpose. They were...rituals. Combine the Singing Four in unholy twilight, and the path to the Dark Aether..." Zamantha trailed off, before she sighed, "Never mind. I would not expect your small, mindless brains to understand. All you must know is this; it is time..." suddenly, her voice deepened to a demonic snarl, "**TO ASCEND!**"

An unearthly howl rang out across the Plaza as a bolt of purple lightning struck the tower. The tower responded by exploding into fragments, a massive beam of purple energy spilling out of it and firing into the sky. The sky itself ripped in twain as a portal screamed into reality, upon which the beam filled into. A few otherworldly tentacles even clawed their way out of the portal and thrashed around in the sky. The sky went from a deep purple to a voided black, with nary a star in the way. A thick, purple haze surrounded the three, earthquakes shook the ground and the ground itself even began to crack open and spew forth more gas and puddles of purple slime. All around, came the scream of those transformed, and even their screams were slowly reverbing, becoming monstrous and scratchy. And in the middle of it all, Marie swore she could see Zamantha in the beam, slowly rising above the city, her eyes flashing purple like a god's.

"**We are not merely Octolings anymore! WE ARE DEITIES!**" Zamantha bellowed in her new, ethereal tone, "**We control all that goes bump in the night! We shall create PARADISE!**"

"What do we do...?" Pearl asked in fear. Nothing. She turned back to the idols and screamed, "Girls, what do we do?!"

Marie stared the the nightmare in front of her. She really wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. She stuttered, gibbered, shook like a leaf in the wind. She finally found her voice, if only for a second; "...W-We've lost. We gotta retreat. Run!"

She clambered onto Callie's back and held on tight. She didn't care if Callie was gone, she was still faster. The beast howled one final time and made a break for the Square once more, bounding over the wall back onto the tracks and following them off into the distance, a discordant ghostly Pearl zooming by not too far behind them.

"**And so...the Agents have failed. Inkopolis has...fallen...**" a rough laughter from Zamantha, a deep, demonic echo flying throughout it all, "**...This is our time, now.**"


	6. Twinkling Twilight

Tentakeel Outpost. Once a quiet scouting post where Agent 4 would search for the missing Squid Sister. Now, a camp. A dark, sweaty safe haven for those fortunate enough to make it underground before the Ascension. Caldwell sighed pitifully, wiping the sweat from his brow with a tissue. The last couple hours had been hideously stressful for the Agents. They had fought down to their last breath, going back-and-forth between the surface and the Outpost. They had been fighting off beasts, vampires and zombies, grabbing anyone not infected and getting them to the grate as fast as possible. The werewolves fought the hardest, tooth and nail, down to their final scrap of consciousness. They were fast, brutal and cunning. One had nicked Xavier bad, raking him across the face with a claw. Caldwell had made DAMN sure that one wasn't getting up after that.

But hours passed, and things got beyond tough. They got impossible. Resources dwindled, the enemy only got smarter and savable survivors were getting few and far between. It was absolutely brutal to be SO close to saving someone, only for them to lose their nerve and run off, or worse. Even the chipper Mira had a breakdown when someone so close to the grate transformed and attacked...and that was BEFORE the Plaza tower exploded and spewed a beam of light into the sky. The haze burned like acid, the ground cracked beneath them, the beasts became more controlled...and even harder to take down. Mira had fallen to the floor, sobbing in fear. She was used to fighting the Octarian forces, but...not this.

Another hour on, and the surface was impenetrable. So the Agents had no choice but to hunker down for this...eternal night. Caldwell was not overly familiar with the Outpost, being more used to the Valley himself, but he still took it upon himself to patrol it, check on who they saved. A gaggle of Inklings and Octolings, of each and every colour, gender, clothing, tentacle style...and every single one of them scared out of their minds. They were huddled in their small groups, a menagerie of rough cloth tents littering the Outpost, some of the more secluded up on the platforms or hidden by the weird fenced off area in the corner. The Kettles were completely covered, and numerous campfires dotted the area as well. Some of the survivors were huddled together, calm. Some were angry. Some cried.

On his third trip round, someone grabbed Caldwell's attention by gripping onto his arm. It was an Octoling, skin like mocha and with purple tentacles. She was wearing an Octo Tee, Violet Trainers and a headband. He couldn't tell which one. She was grubby, scared, tears leaking from her eyes. She babbled desperately in a language Caldwell barely understood, "Oh boy...Advanced Octarian..." he shook his head, putting a hand on the Octoling's shoulder to calm her and turning to the cabin, "Xavier!"

"On my way!" Xavier called out. He was situated in the Cuttlefish Cabin, itself having been converted into a cramped but usable base of operations via the same tent material as the others. He left Mira, still staring into space, and bounded towards Caldwell. He approached his side, taking the wrist of the distraught Octoling, and began to speak in his native tongue; [It is okay. I can understand you. Tell me, what is wrong?]

[Please, help my sister!] the Octoling cried out, [She is wounded and sick, she needs medical attention!]

[Say no more,] Xavier nodded, turning back to Caldwell, "Caldwell, she has sister, is wounded. Medical kit!"

"Right. MIRA!" Caldwell turned back to the Cabin, "Medi Bag!"

"Here," came Mira's voice. It took her a while to amble across the settlement to give him the kit. It was a small bag, red, with a cartoon plaster in white on the side, "Last big kit, so...make it stretch."

"Hoo boy..." Caldwell grimaced, before waving the two back to the Cabin. He nodded to the Octoling, who nodded back silently and took him to their tent. It was at the edge, just before the Kettle to one of the stages, where a green tent and fire stood. There was another Octoling, likewise darker-skinned and with lavender tentacles. She was sniffling, stretched out on the ground, a hand pressed to her forehead. Caldwell sighed, "Alright, lemme see..."

[Sister, can you show him your wounds?] the Octoling asked. Her sister complied, lifting her leggings to reveal a deep gash that seeped lavender ink; it was, thankfully, not infected. Caldwell pressed a hand to her forehead; it was burning up, and it was clear she was in them middle of an intense fever.

"Alright, thank you..." Caldwell murmured under his breath. Unzipping the kit, he took out a roll of bandages and some medical tape and began to wrap the leg, tight enough but not so much as to cut off the ink flow. He finished the wrap with some tape, then reached further into the bag and took out a white bottle. Painkillers. Not like there was much else to give her. He took out his water canteen and handed it and a dose of painkillers to the Octoling. She took both, smiling a little from the alleviation of the pain. Caldwell smiled, patting her head, "There. She's gonna be just fine."

The older Octoling quickly ran in to tightly hug the Agent, her composure failing as she nuzzled into his chest, [Thank you...]

Caldwell recognised that, and attempted to talk himself, [You are...welcome. Do you speak Inkling?]

"I can...I can try..." the Octoling sobbed. She broke from the hug, feeling somewhat embarrassed, before she started up again, "What is...what is happening? Why is there fog on surface?! Why were people mutating and..." she doubled over, hands clasped to her head, expression born of worry and fear, "O-Oh Cod..."

"It's okay..." Caldwell knelt down to her level, and slowly rubbed her back. He leaned in further and whispered, "You'll be safe down here, for the time being. We've got enough space to house all we have, and we can scavenge for supplies. You'll be fine, we promise..."

The Octoling looked up to him, managing to get out a tearful, "Thank you..." before she got to her feet and stumbled to her sister, lying down and hugging her as well. Caldwell grinned somewhat - helping people, that was the Agent way - and began to make it back to the Cabin. There, Mira and Xavier were already pouring over a whiteboard which they had scribbled on. On the board, outlines of the Outpost, and the two areas past that, each with dots littering parts of it, and circles around edges leading into the abyss with labels like "NOT SAFE" and the like by their sides. Mira scratched her head with the back half of her marker, and took a deep sigh.

"Okay...so let's get this straight..." Caldwell grumbled as he approached, reading the various stats written to the left of the board, "We have 200 survivors, estimated. Two zones stable enough to house them all, another three that are more dangerous. Below them, Domes renowned for their squalid conditions. Ration packs in the thousands, but overall medical supplies in the hundreds..."

"Talk about cuttin' it thin..." Mira sighed, "Ration packs ain't gonna do it, guys. That carp's barely food."

"Maybe, but it's designed to keep you going for an entire day," Caldwell reminded her, scribbling a little more onto the board, "Cuttlefish sought to that. We divide them equally, they won't be comfortable...but they won't starve."

"That not major issue..." Xavier whimpered, tapping the board, "Problem is space. We can no hold them all in Outpost. There no room. Perhaps we build lift to bottom of Canyon?"

"If that's even possible," Caldwell said grimly.

"Well...we can't put them in the Domes..." Mira hummed, staring at the board with a special look of hopelessness, "But we can't keep 'em all squished up like this either. One outbreak of Squid Flu and we're ALL de-boned."

Xavier looked extremely worried, "...What do we do?"

Caldwell sighed, "We wait. We wait until they get back..."

*CRASH*

That massive crash sent a good portion of the base into panic for a bit, Octolings and Inklings scrambling around the Outpost, bumping into each other, some even stepping into fires. Though, thankfully, no-one was hurt and no-one slipped off the edge. Xavier went back to help calm them, while Caldwell and Mira studied the source of the crash. The grate to the Plaza had been ripped to shreds, the remains forced outwards...and what stood in front of the remains forced Caldwell to blink twice. It was the Squid Sisters and Pearl! But...so, damaged. It felt and almost looked like part of their souls were just...vanished. Moreso in Pearl's case, as she was floating, transparent, lacking legs in lieu of a tail...she was a ghost! Callie was still a wolf, and probably would be for some time considering the darkness outside, but she seemed totally different to who she used to be. She snarled, she looked...angry.

And finally, there was Marie. Clothes tattered, ripped, splashed with a fowl-smelling green concoction. Shoes torn, facemask missing, hat drooping down her head. Tentacles gashed and untied, face bruised and splattered with her new red ink, some teeth missing. Bleeding across her body. A look of pure horror on her face. Caldwell's eyes sprang out in shock upon seeing the three, while Mira gasped with some sort of relieved glee.

"Marie!" she cried out, stumbling towards her idol and jumping up and down in front of her, "So glad you're okay!" a pause. A small pause in the action, as Marie continued to stare breathlessly into the void. Or at least, towards the teeming mass of survivors in the camp. Her breath slowly returned, slowly getting faster and more erratic. Mira looked up at her in worry, "M-Marie?"

Marie didn't respond. Her breathing only got faster and faster, more and more erratic. It was like something was being built up to, and it soon overflowed. Breath hitching, dry screams escaping her vocals, Marie collapsed to the ground, shivering wildly and lashing out at random. Her face was of pure terror, her eyes leaking tears.

"Mira, hold her down!" Caldwell ordered, bellowing in shock himself. Mira complied, holding the spasming Marie down as she screamed in terror. Caldwell studied her quickly, "...She's having a panic attack, get her stable!" he reached down and grabbed Marie by the shoulders, "It's okay, Marie, it's safe! You're safe!"

"NONE OF US ARE SAFE!" Marie screamed, "THE WALLS OF REALITY ARE CRASHING DOWN WE'RE ALL CURSED WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE-"

Smack! Caldwell raised his hand and brought it flying across Marie's face, slapping her hard. She grunted with the pain, snapping out of her stupor, rubbing the side of her face that had already turned a bright red from the impact. Caldwell sighed, "Calm now?"

"F-First of all, oww..." Marie sniffled, caressing her cheek, "And second...n-no. No. I'm not calm. I'm not...Callie!" she yelped, twisting her body to turn to the wolf, "Oh Callie...she's gone!"

"Gone?" Mira asked "She's right here."

"Her body is, bucko..." came the vague, echoing voice of the Ghostly Pearl, "Her mind, well..." It didn't take long for Caldwell to realise exactly what Pearl was meaning. His expression dropped, and he turned to Marie. She knew.

"CALLIE!" her composure failed her and she wrapped herself around Caldwell, crying strongly into his Hero Suit, "I spend two years trying to save her and now...n-now...!"

Long, hopeless sobs escaped her now, face pressed right into Caldwell's shoulder. He quivered a little, "Sssh, it's okay..." and he returned the hug, slowly stroking the idol's ruined hair to help calm her, "It's okay...we're safe here..." Marie's sobs still rang out, but quieter and slower. He turned up to Mira, "Mira...get Marie to safety, calm her down..."

"Okay..." Mira sighed. She reached down and took Marie from Caldwell, softly hugging her and letting her cry into her tentacles. She didn't mind. She sighed, cuddling her idol, before she began to lead her further into the camp, the wolf following her, "Come on, Marie...there there, everything's gonna be alright..."

Caldwell sighed, then turned to the ghost. She looked like Pearl, but transparent and floating. He grimaced, "Pearl, I have...so many questions. Chief of which...what happened up there?"

"The surface has gone to pot," Pearl rubbed her arm in worry, "Turns out we were being turned for a reason. Cal, Marie, 'Rina, even me! It was all for this...ritual. Accessing something called the Dark Aether."

"Dark Aether?" Caldwell asked, to which Pearl nodded. He looked down, his expression lost, "The research said nothing about that..."

"Whatever it is, it's BAD juju!" Pearl flung her arms out to accentuate her point, "Now there's this portal in the sky, and the Mages control all those things! We barely made it back here! As for me...well, I kinda..." she coughed, clearly uncomfortable divulging this information, but she did so anyway, "...They dropped a piano on me. And I...died."

"Clearly. So...you're a ghost...how does it feel?"

"Death?" Pearl asked, stifling a chuckle; this wasn't time for a joke, but she did so anyway, "Like havin' dinner with the in-laws. Being a ghost, now that's...weird. I feel really numb...c-cold. I can't touch anything. I can't eat Mayo! I can't kiss...Marina..." she slowly went quiet and morose once more. Marina...her soulmate. A zombie now. And she was a ghost. Like fate refused to have them together. She turned to Caldwell, worried expression, "Where is she? You didn't-"

Caldwell said nothing, merely pointing to the corner where Octavio's snowglobe would normally be. Instead, it was a wooden platform and upon it was Marina. She was chained to a post except for her stump of a left arm. She was moaning periodically, her mouth clearly dry. "We couldn't leave her outside with all that..." Caldwell said quietly, "She's safe. And we're safe from her."

Pearl softly floated over to Marina, studying her. She was a wreck, her skin rotting, her stump bleeding, her expression wilted and hungry. She looked up to the ghost and moaned the one thing she could; "Brains..."

"It's okay, 'Rina. I'm here..." Pearl sighed solemnly. She reached up to place a hand on Marina's face, to softly caress it in whatever way she could...but instead, it went straight through. And it began to suck her in! She had time to let out a "W-WOAH!" before she was pulled into Marina, absorbed into her. The body spasmed a bit, groaning in discomfort, before it settled again with a groan.

"What the-" Caldwell's eyes went wide as he studied the spectacle. He sprinted to the zombie and arched close, "Pearl! Pearl, where are you? You alive? ...Relatively speaking?"

"Mmmm...Holy carp...MAN I feel awful. I feel like the walkin' de..." ...Marina spoke. She looked up at Caldwell, her eyes opening. Only now they looked different. Now they looked...yellow? They looked like Pearl's eyes! She looked down at herself and yelped in shock, only stopping any gestures from the chains around her torso and remaining arm, "OOOOOOOOOOkay! Did I...I-I guess I possessed her body!"

"Woooooah..." Caldwell gasped in wonder. Pearl had...possessed Marina! He could barely contain his excitement over this new potential research. He looked around the body, "How's THIS feel?"

"Weird..." Pearl moaned, struggling against the chains, to no avail. She looked around her new form, wobbling and shivering violently. It looked like she was going to be sick. "It's like I'm walkin' on stilts with ice packs strapped to me. I feel...REALLY ill. And this arm's no good," she waved the still bandaged stump of an arm around, splotching the bandages with some more vile green ink. She relaxed, then sighed, "This is gonna take some getting used to."

"Makes the body useful..." Caldwell shrugged. He turned back to the camp, where Mira and Marie had gone. The camp itself still seemed calm and collected, thank Cod. In fact, he could see the two, plus Callie, re-emerge from the crowd and approach him. "Ahh, you two're back!" he said gladly, "Well, three. How's Callie?"

"Feral..." Marie sighed, her composure stable but no less subdued, "Her mind ran away. She's just an animal now..." she paused for a second, lost in thought. She stared blankly forward, then to Callie. Callie was walking around Mira, growling softly and nuzzling into her, which Mira returned by petting her ears, "But, she seems to be on our side. In fact, kind of surprised...why aren't WE being controlled?"

"Perhaps they were right..." came a scratchy, warbled voice, "Maybe you guys really didn't live up to their expectations. Maybe we CAN'T be controlled!"

Marie turned to the zombie chained up in the corner, and her face retwisted into shock, "...M-Marina?!"

"Pearl, actually," Pearl chuckled, "I took over a zombie's body, long story..." another pause, this time accentuated by a growling stomach, "...Man, I could REALLY go for some brains right now!" she chuckled, only to stop upon the sight of a panicked crowd and a drawn Hero Shot, "I'm joking! Jeez..."

"I mean, she has point..." Xavier said, returning from the camp, "What if they, uh...what if they no listen to magic beam? What if she pass this to all she...turn?"

"...I think you're onto something," Caldwell had a lightbulb flash in his brain, he turned to his crew, "We now know this rebirth of the myths is based in science, not magic. So we can alter the curse ourselves and make our own army to take on the mages! We just need, like, a test subject."

"...Well..." Marie shuddered, "I kinda have one."

"What do you..." Caldwell stopped cold. He could see Mira's neck. Two pinprick holes seeping yellow ink...stuffed with green venom. He turned to the vampire, sheepishly wiping her mouth, "Marie. NO."

"I'm sorry..." Marie whimpered, wiping at some of the leftover ink dabbed at the corner of her mouth, "I couldn't help myself..."

"I let her, actually! I finally get to be like my idol in every way!" Mira was ecstatic about the change, jumping about the Outpost and around the team. She had a spring in her step she had just lost from the events on the surface. She continued chirping, "I get to be a vampire too! I..." she stopped slowly. A look of pain settled on her face, and she gripped the marks on her neck as she doubled over in pain, "OH boy...h-here it comes!"

"I have you!" Xavier cried out as he helped lay Mira down, "I have you!" He held her steady as she convulsed on the spot, limbs thrashing around automatically as she gurgled in pain. Like Marie before her, her transformation was small and subtle; her skin went even paler than it already was, her tentacles shifted up from yellow to a blood orange, darker than Caldwell's. Her eyes became a fiery red, small claws from her fingers. And finally, two sharp fangs jutting out of her mouth, knocking two teeth to the Outpost floor. Eventually, she stopped, panting wildly. She looked exhausted, but not exactly in pain anymore. Xavier looked confused, "...Mira? Are you...okay?"

Mira responded thematically; she slowly rose to her feet, flaunted her fangs and hissed loudly at the purple moon. She looked to the group, excited; "Ooh, a hiss!" she bound up to Marie and hugged her, then stepped back, "Look, Marie! I'm a vampire now! Hissssss! Man, I feel GREAT! Bit hungry, though. Could anyone spare some blood?" a slight pause as everyone looked uncomfortable, including Marie, "Anyone?"

The pause continued a little as the team stood there awkwardly. Eventually, most of them dispersed; Xavier and Mira went back to check on the survivors, as well as to get Mira some ink to drink. Callie continued to prowl the Outpost, nuzzling into survivors and even licking Pearl in Marina's body...though she made a face that made it known that was less than wise. Marie, face lost in emotion, slowly turned to the remaining Agent; "Caldwell..." she mumbled, "A-Agent...whatever. I'm gonna be honest, for the first time in my life I feel...lost. Like, WE lost! What do we do?"

"Do as Agents do," Caldwell walked to Marie and placed a hand on her shoulder, his pride intact, his voice boastful, "We keep fighting. We fight for the safety and the future of our city, against the Octarian menace. Just like old times. That'd be what Callie would want for you, right? To protect the world from evil?"

Marie looked over to the wolf as she continued her prowling. She was plodding up to Marie, her face still feral, but somewhat softer than before. She got close and nuzzled against her torso, growling softly all of the while. Perhaps there was still a bit of Callie in there after all. Marie felt like crying again. She want to just sob into her soft fur, lament the death of her cousin's personality. But as she slowly stroked the beast, a resolve was born within her. It burned, reaching throughout her. A sense of...confidence, perhaps. She started to smile in the way only Agent 2 ever could.

"...You're right! I gotta keep going! For Callie! Let's rally the troops!" bounding into the Cabin, Marie dragged out a podium and wrestled it towards the rest of the Outpost. She clambered atop of it, and slammed a bell onto the podium. She then rang it like crazy, getting everyone's attention. She cleared her throat, and then began her speech; "Ladies, gentlesquids! I know this may seem like the end of the world, for many of you!"

"Well...it is!" came a voice from the crowd.

"...Yeah okay it kinda is," Marie grumbled, shrugging, "However! We can't just give up! We WON'T just give up! We may have lost some of our finest friends today, but we can do more than just sit aside and lament. We can avenge their memories, and fight on!"

"Yeah..." came another voice, "Y-Yeah, she's got a point!"

"Those Mages think they're so clever! So powerful! Well we've fought worse! We've fought people who have threatened our very way of life before! And WE came out on top! Thanks to Agent 3..." she motioned Caldwell to step forward. He did so, posing dramatically, "Agent 4..." Mira came to the stage, wiping some azure blue ink from her mouth and likewise posing with her Hero Shot, "Agent 8..." he joined the three, looking sheepish and shy, "And Agents 1 and 2...Callie, and myself. We are the New Squidbeak Splatoon! And we promise, if you let us, we will turn you into a fighting force worth fearing! We have the equipment, you have the weapon handling skills! Together, we can increase the Agency! We can keep our new camp alive! And we can defeat these Mages...and take back the night!"

A roar of cheers and approval rang out amongst the crowd. Even those who were sick or injured, so moved they were by the speech in these darkest times, tried to show their approval and cheered alongside their more abled brothers and sisters. They began chanting Marie's name, subtly, then loudly, while the Agents looked on. Marie looked proud, a feeling welling in her heart she hadn't felt since she first sent Mira off into the Canyon. A pang of leadership. A string of belonging. And then, as she stared at the wolf Callie smile at her from the corner of the room, a glimmer of hope.

"Guess you're the leader now, Agent 2," Caldwell cheered as Marie stepped down from the podium. They shared a high-five and he chuckled, "So...what now?"

Marie took a few seconds to process this, the gears turning in her head. She cleared her throat and said, "...We start small. Training, resource gathering, fighting back where we can. It's gonna be a long, hard process. But I'm gonna save this city...for Callie."

"Well then," the two smacked hands together and shook them. Caldwell got a cocky look on his face, "Let's get started."

===

'D_ear Diary,_

_Six months have passed since that beam of light erupted into the sky. At least, that's what the locals have told us. All seems so hopeless down here. The city of Inkopolis has truly fallen. The other cities across the world, whatever may be left of it, have lamented the downfall of a patch of slowly sinking land. But that was all. No help. They instead built large, concrete walls around the city. Sealing them away from the world. They are trapped. The people still on the surface, those who have yet to succumb. They are losing hope, day by day. The desperation I have seen from some of them, it has been...horrific. This is worse than what Karsum could ever show me. So his reasons for leading us here are...confusing,_

_No matter. We are here to survive, now. That is what we do. We found a flyer to somewhere in the old Square. Promising "Safe Haven". It isn't much...but it's that, or we try to make it topside with all these mytho-freaks prowling the streets. People have been responding negatively to my name, around these parts. Said my name means bad things. Jack has already found me a pseudonym, but we're going to have to further disguise to make it. What happened to this timeline?_

_Perhaps we'll find our answers at this Safe Haven. And if not...we'll just have to ask more questions._

_For now, "Drista_"'

Those six months had been brutal. The sun had not shone on the city for all of that time. Vegetation was dying, trees were skeletal, the temperature freezing in this eternal twilight. The Square was almost unrecognisable from its glory days. It was cold, abandoned, a harsh wind blowing through the area. Desaturated, with a purple haze from the fog still in the atmosphere; no longer transformative, thank Cod, but still toxic to those unprepared. Litter and debris scattered across the street, the coffee shop long smashed up and robbed, the Shoal an empty husk devoid of light. The other shops had fared better, being boarded up and relatively untouched, but GrizzCo seemed to be the first to be destroyed and abandoned.

Even the game tower had long been boarded off and destroyed. Only two places showed signs of life; to the right, a subway station gate, barricaded with a green glow coming from within. Many survivors beyond the Square had told them of The Metro; it was safety of a very specific sort. No-one went in there...well, no-one that came out, anyway. To the right was what they called The Grate. It was clearly a sewer-type grate, its metals long since ripped up into shards, and a hinged lid with an insane amount of locks in its place. Not many on the surface knew where it led, or why it was so locked down. Where did it lead? Salvation? Death?

But this team knew what was up, strolling into the centre of the Square. Two Inklings, an Octoling and a...hybrid? First, the Inkling girl. She was short, compared to the others. Yellow tentacles, done in a wavy streak down the side of her face. Pale, white-as-snow skin that was covered in plasters and small wounds. A brown army jacket with the fur trimmed off. Leggings, Moto Boots and black eyes with white ring pupils. She, like her teammates, had taken to carrying older, Human era firearms to combat the scourge, and had a small rifle with wood furniture in a holster on her back; "AK" was that could be made out of the scuffed up writing on the side. Travelling next to her was a male Inkling, taller than anyone else and with the physique to match. Darker skinned, tentacles shorn and hidden beneath a flat cap, orange shirt and grey trenchcoat. Brown leather fingerless gloves and Octoleet Boots. Two pistols stuffed into his pockets and a snarl to his face.

Trailing behind somewhat, studying the landscape closely, was the hybrid. He was what some people called an Inktoling, a sort of merger between an Inkling and their Octo counterparts. He had the Octoling ears and face, expression, general body structure. But his eyes, his hair and sucker placement, his cocky grin, it all belonged to his Inkling father. He was dressed in a dirty black tuxedo, stained grey with the ink of some of the zombies littering the city, ending in dress shoes and cufflinks on his limbs. Fair skin, purple ink colour, a sort of shifty look to his eyes born of confidence and just a hint of sleaze. A shotgun in his hands, aimless at the moment but ready to fire at any time.

"So THIS is that Square, right?" the male Inkling grumbled as the team finally came to a stop; his voice with thick with an accent, one many from New Inkshire would recognise, "Damn, Za...urgh, Drista. This place 'as seen bette' days!"

"I know..." the female, Drista, sighed. She looked up, expression morose, at the dilapidated buildings stretching into the sky. She spoke, her accent more local, but her voice quiet and haunted; "It used to be so busy here. So full of life."

"Man, this place is a dump!" came the Inktoling next, loudly kicking a tin can across the Square. His voice was much louder, one laced with smarm no matter the situation. He turned to the other two, face twisted into angered confusion, "What're we doin' here, again?"

"We're here, Conner..." Drista grumbled, walking over to the Inktoling and thumping him on the arm, "For a number of reasons. First of all, we gotta get Sophie some clothes..."

There was a crashing sound, taking the three off-guard. They turned quickly to the source of the sound, noticing that their friend had vanished too. The old Crusty Sean van, once teaming with life and lovingly deep-fried food, was rocking violently as someone rumbled around inside of it. Finally, amidst a shower of boxes, an Octoling sprang up from behind the counter. She was quite different from the others; her skin was a shade of ghastly green, freckles dotting her face, her tentacles a dark blue transitioning into green at the tips. Her eyes were a glowing yellow, pupils unnatural compared to even Drista's own. She wasn't wearing much, just a hospital gown swiped from elsewhere, alongside some grey Trainers to protect her feet. She had an air of childlike innocence to her, noted by her big grin as she munched on stale, uncooked schwaffles.

"...Hee hee!" she giggled as she continued to eat the food, "Crunchy!"

Conner tugged at his collar as he stared at the Octoling smiling happily. He always felt uneasy around here. Like she was a zombie, but...not. A different TYPE of zombie. He turned to his teammates, "Eeeeh, I don't trust her...she can barely talk and she's green. What happened to her, anyway?"

"We dunno," Jack shrugged, then crossed his arms, "But she 'asn't tried ta eat us yet. An' she's good witha gun. So she's a frienda mine."

"Second, that flyer," Drista motioned, pointing towards Conner, "You still got it?"

"This one?" Conner reached into his back pocket and brought out some folded paper, to which Drista nodded. He unfolded the paper into its full form. It was indeed a flyer, one hastily written and clearly not printed by machine. But it got the point across; in the old Square, there lay two safe havens; the Deepsea Metro and something called the Tentakeel Outpost. A base away from the zombies and the werewolves and the vampires. Food. Light. Company. Training. A Future. A bit flowery, but it did the job. Conner smirked as he studied the paper, "Hmm...lovin' these perks. Wouldn't mind a little safe haven. Sounds like the place could do with some entertainment!"

"You start yer 'ack routine..." Jack growled, stepping forward to tower over the Inktoling, "An' they'll throw us out. No-one wanna listen to your bullsh-"

"Jack!" Sophie cried out, covering her ears with her hands, "L-Language..."

Drista shot Jack a dirty look, and quickly rushed over to Sophie, pulling her into a small hug. She stroked her tentacles, "Sorry, Soph. Come on, let's get you some clothes. You think these shops are still stocked? This place was abandoned pretty quickly."

"Let's see, shall we?" Connor grinned. He walked over to the shops. He didn't know which did what, except maybe that one covered head to toe in Camo; that sold weapons, ones that were no good at this point. Instead, the middle one looked...relatively torso-esque. He grabbed the handles and tried to jiggle them open. Nothing. He grimaced. "Gah, it's stuck. Oh Jacky boy!"

"On it..." Jack growled. There was always sort of an odd friendship, between the two. The brains to the brawn. Connor had taught him this trick. Strike above the handle to get at the lock, right? Right. Jack delivered a brutal set of kicks to the handle of the doors, the final kick giving off a screech as the internals disassembled.

Connor threw the doors open and breathed in the air, "Aww yeah, let's get some free stuff!"

Drista shook Sophie slightly, placing an arm on her shoulder and motioning towards the now open shop. Sophie's eyes lit up and she took off for the shop, giggling all the while. She rushed past Connor and into the racks of clothes at the back. There was quite the selection, actually. All part of each shop's weird stock rotations, though obviously never restocked after the fall of society, and all that. She dived into the selection; mainly hoodies - Red, Grape, Blue - some Paratrooper jackets, a Jersey, and an Olive Ski Jacket. They all fit to varying degrees, but even so the scrunched look on her face made it known that Sophie wasn't particular to any of them. Jack huffed, crossing his arms and leaning in the doorway, impatient.

Finally, however, Sophie's eyes met something on the racks. A silver jacket, puffy torso, long black sleeves ending in hand covers that completely exposed the fingers and the Tentatek logo on the front. It was warm. It was protective. It was vaguely science-ish. It was perfect. Grabbing it off the rack, she slipped it on without a second thought, alongside some strangely out of place Power Stripes from the floor. Must have been a delivery error. She nonetheless threw it all on, then bounded towards the mirror to check herself out. Her expression was one of curiosity, slowly turning to one of glee.

"Ooh, I think she found something!" Drista smiled, slowly approaching the Octoling, "How's it feel, Soph?"

"Does it feel...what do you guys say, Fresh?" Jack asked.

"Fresh..." Sophie too felt like she was struggling with the word. She took a few seconds to respond, slowly rubbing the cool fabric she was now encased in. The material was cold to the touch, but she felt...warm! Shell, she felt something! Her expression grew even wider, "Fresh!" She ran towards Drista and tackled her into a hug, "Love, love!"

"She loves it!" Drista said happily, patting Sophie's bushy tentacles, "You're welcome, Soph."

"Well, 'at worked out bette' then I thought it would..." Jack grumbled, a hint of relief to his voice. He reached down to the Inktoling and took the flyer from his hands, studying it carefully, "Now, let's see if we can get into this 'ere safe 'aven, hmm?" suddenly, a rumbling sensation rocked the Square. Clothes jumped around on the rack, some fell off. The survivors were stumbling around, trying to keep their balance - Connor was thrown to the floor. "What was that?!"

"Guys?!" Connor said, slowly getting to his feet and staring outside to the Square, "I...THINK we got company!"

The four barrelled outside, running into the middle of the Plaza once again. The Plaza tower could be seen in the distance - still broke, still firing a laser into a poral in the sky, now flashing multiple shades of purple and throwing debris into the sky. The haze only got thicker, and the cracks in the ground increased. And then, out of the shadows, came the beasts. Zombies, tentacles grey and skin pale and rotting, snarls in their throats. Werewolves, hulking and feral, eyes full of bloodlust. Even a few vampires, clearly starved and desperate for sustenance. Jack was the first to get out his weapons, flipping out his dual pistols. Then Drista, charging her AK and aiming it into the crowd. Connor consoled Sophie, telling her to fight, before digging out his shotgun. And finally, Sophie wiped her eyes and brought out a smaller gun, it ALMOST looked like a Hero Shot MK2 but smaller and more compact, as well as black.

"Surrounded..." Drista sighed, "Well, not the first time. Why did we leave the shop again?"

"No gettin' boxed in!" Jack growled, "Alright, people! Stick to yer line of sight, aim for the 'ead! AND NO TRICKSHOOTING. I ain't gettin' shot in the arse again!"

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Connor complained.

"**Oh...lookie here...we have some new arrivals. I so enjoy the concept of fresh meat...**" boomed a voice from beyond the Square. Drista winced as it entered her mind, echoing violently within. It bounced off of the walls in her mind, loud and discorded. She looked up, pained, at the Plaza tower still spewing light into the sky. The voice boomed again, "**Minions of the night! FETCH ME THEIR SOULS!**"

The zombies growled in reply and began sprinting towards the four in unison, werewolves bounding alongside them. With a roar of "Open fire!" from Jack, the four began firing wildly into the horde. They rushed in in their tens, the Square was only enough to support such as this, and they fell as bullets plugged their heads and torsos. Jack was at the forefront, firing his dual pistols into the crowd - he was always more used to cracking heads manually, but this worked just as well. He blasted zombie after zombie, guns swinging from head to head, pausing only to slam a new magazine into a gun or reach out and deliver a powerful haymaker onto a zombie before stomping its head into mush.

The others too were slaying them in droves. Drista was not one for such senseless violence. But she knew she had to to keep going. Her...affliction, made her too good at it to pass up. She was laser accurate with her rifle, firing bursts into the horde, aiming for between the eyes with each burst. Her magazines would run dry, but she would waste no time in flicking the magazine away and putting in another one. She almost felt as she was autopilot. flicking from head to head as a deafening persona boomed joy at the slaughter. Connor was likewise blowing them away, two to three at a time, shotgun blasting great plumes of fire and buckshot. He snickered maniacally, laughing at the carnage, perhaps if only to keep his cool as they continued the attack.

Finally, was Sophie. She lacked the tact or tactical nature of her teammates. Any skills from her previous life as an Elite were blasted clean. Instead, all the remained was a small child, scared out of her wits. She could not run, instead only able to blast every bullet she had downrange into her pack of zombies and vampires. They fell, sure, but it was messy and only served to drain her reserves too quickly. The clicks were more and more frequent as the battle rang on. The zombies fell, the vampires fled, but they never stopped. And yet through it all, the wolves, the hulking beasts, stayed to the wayside. Waiting.

"Those wolves aren't attacking us!" Drista warbled as she finished off a floored zombie, "Why aren't they attacking us?!"

"Pragmatic scud-suckers..." Jack growled, reaching back to punch a vampire in its head, then blow its brains out on the floor, "They're hangin' back and waiting for the rabble to run us down! 'Ave dinner AND a show!"

"Then they'll keep waiting! Man, these guys don't quit!" Connor grumbled, firing off the last shot in his magazine at the crowd. And the last one in his pockets, to his dismay, "Carp. Runnin' out of ammo!"

"Too!" Sophie wailed amongst the repeated, desperate clicking of her Not-Hero Shot. She drooped in despair, turning to the front of the group, towards the ruined city. She cried out in fear, "Woof!"

"Woof?" Drista asked, confused. She turned in the same direction Sophie was looking in...and dropped her gun, "...Oh dear."

One of the wolves had grown impatient, it had seemed. It roared into the sky, not quite a howl, then it charged into the fray. It bashed the undead aside with pained, furious anger, roaring at it did so. It even grabbed some of them in its mighty jaws and snapped them in two. It reached out, swiping and slashing wildly at the other werewolves, who responded with anger and attacked. One of them swept through the crowd, claws clattering against the ground as it lunged at the team. Drista, Sophie AND Connor screamed and cowered, while Jack shielded them all, arms outstretched. He winced, but refused to yield. He was the only one to see a stream of red ink slam through the beast's head, splattering brains everywhere and causing the body to collapse to the ground with a mighty thud. There was someone riding the attacking wolf! She held a weirdly-shaped Charger in her hands, ramshackle and built from multiple guns. She got off and blasted at the remaining zombies and vampires, reaching down to bite one in the neck and...drain its ink? Jack couldn't tell from this distance. The being had discarded the husk and went about shooting more of the remnants, a vicious skill in her aim, the wolf continued to destroy the fellow beasts around it.

Finally, it was all over. The zombies were dead. The werewolves and vampires were running. The Square was...quiet. Calm, once more. Jack sighed, arching forward, his back aching. He sighed again as he turned to his teammates; they were safe, that was all that mattered. Connor groaned, slowly looking up, "...A-Are we dead?"

"Not on my watch, Squiddo."

The duo approached the team...and near all of them gasped in shock. The wolf was not like the others. Her fur was not all one colour; it was black mainly, with magenta highlights across her body in a style not unlike war paint. She had two furry ex-tentacles shooting from her head and draping down her back, while scars littered her body. Her eyes were blank and milky white, and she was dressed in a black harness with purple sheet metal armour and a saddle. The woman riding this beast was tall, thin, lanky. She dressed in work clothes; baggy overalls, thick gloves, work boots, stained white shirt. Her tentacles were grey with red highlights, draped messily across her left shoulder. Her eyes were a glowing crimson red, and two fangs edged out of her mouth. She holstered her Charger and stared at the group.

"Holy Squid!" Connor gasped, "You''re...M-Mari...Marina?"

"Marie," the woman hissed, "Marie Cuttlefish of the Former Squid Sisters. Leader of of the Salvaged Splatoon. And from the looks of your guns and...all the dead zombies, you're here because of my flyer. You want to join my safe haven, no?" she chuckled, before she yelped as her wolf companion edged towards the team, barking wildly. Marie grasped onto her reins, "Woah, Callie, Callie! Down! They're good..." the wolf growled, but eventually relented. Marie sighed, stroking her ears, "Good girl...sorry about that. Callie gets a little...antsy, around new people."

"Callie?" Jack asked, "I remember 'er bein' a little more...squid-y."

"That was before that psychopath ruined her and my world..." Marie sighed. She looked towards the tower beam, "That booming voice. You've heard of her, I presume."

"She wanted those zombies to fetch our souls," Connor shrugged, "Sounds a little cliche, to be honest."

"Gimme a schwaffle for every time a'heard THAT..." Jack grumbled.

"Yes, well, she's been a thorn in our side..." Marie grumbled, "She's the reason we're in this mess. We need to make her pay...but we need more people in our army before that. We're gettin' there, but...it's slow. And the people are losing hope. So you came at the right time."

"I-It's kinda weird, it's been like we were sent here by someone, or..." Connor ambled, his tone confused, "I dunno, it's weird."

"Please..." Sophie approached the Squid Sister and talked. She tried to talk in more than single words. Drista could already see a vessel pop on her head. Whatever process created her, it took her ability to talk properly, and she struggled to speak at all, "We walk...many. We need...s-safe ha...haven..."

"Sophie, careful..." Drista called out, running over to Sophie and putting a hand over her shoulder. Sophie cried out and doubled over, shivering. Drista patted her tentacles, "Don't overexert yourself."

"Sanitized, huh?" Marie tilted her head in amusement, "Haven't seen many of those since...well."

"Sanitized? Is that what she is? S-She's sick, she needs help!"

"Well, don't worry. I have a few friends in the Outpost who know more about those...things than I do. I wish to know more, myself. I hear their ink tastes like...mint. Or lime..." Marie grinned slyly, in her iconic way. She turned to see a distraught, confused Drista. She cleared her throat, looking sheepish, "Sorry. I have...embraced, my vampire side. Long story. Let's get into that shelter before those freaks come back, huh?" she hopped back onto Callie, who proceeded to pad towards the grate to the Outpost, "Now, if someone could help me with the shelter's locks, that'd be cool."

"Jack, help her..." Drista mumbled, her voice hollow. She doubled over herself, grabbing her head in pain, "I feel...that voice...the b-booming...NNGH!"

"Ah man, not again..." Connor cried out as Drista fell to her knees in agony. He tried to help, but she swatted him away. He'd seen this before, he knew there wasn't much he could do. Sophie could, though. He turned to her in panic, "Soph, you got this?"

"Mmm!" Sophie nodded. "Karsum..."

Connor nodded, then ran towards Jack to assist in unlocking the padlocks. Drista continued to graps at her head in pain, grunting and screaming in pain as the wretched, hollow voices in her head got louder and louder, as they did. It was like a buildup of pain and insanity, she knew it every time. It always hurt when it overflowed, but it always did. Her eyes shot open, her normally white pupils a deep, corrupted red. And he was there. Admist a sea of smoke. A tall, forboding figures. All features obscured by a heavy, thick dark blue cloak., covered in eldritch scripture and belts and clutter. Large, wide sleeves hiding hands. Relaxed pose. A stone dagger in a holster, a brass staff with purple gem in his left hand. No face under the hood, just two pinprick eyes, red in colour. It was him. The figurehead of the "condition". Karsum.

He spoke, his voice deep and scatchy and booming, "_**I am inevitable, Inkling. To all of your kind.**_"

"No...not now!" Drista screamed, pleading almost, as Sophie hugged her, "Not in front of these people, Karsum, please! They don't know you! I don't-"

"_**You know who I am, Zamantha...**_" Karsum practically spat venom, such was his tone of voice, at the Inkling's true name, "_**You may hide your name from these, but not from me.**_"

"How did I know my alternate was some crazed cultist Octoling?!" Drista struggled to get out, feeling her grip on her own body slip slightly. She clenched a fist, "I don't understand, what're we doing here!?"

"_**You are here,**_" Karsum spoke greatly, "_**To take down your alternate. She has breached the Dark Aether...my domain.**_"

"Aether...?" Sophie asked, fearful, "D-Dark?"

"_**Yes. The Dark Aether is...the space below creation. The landfill of the multiverse. Soleanna, Dimension 63, all that withers from reality lays to rest there. But it also holds...creatures beyond me. Beyond your most dreadful nightmares. I cannot abide a filthy creature such as your alternate from allowing those beasts to roam free.**_"

As if to prove his point, the screeching of these beasts roared out in Drista's head. She screamed, slamming her fist into the ground," GUH! My head..." she grunted, "S-Since when did you become the good guy in this? YOU'RE DRIVING ME INSANE!"

"Uh, excuse me?" came an annoyed Marie. She had waltzed over to the group, hands on hips, "What's going on here?" she yelped in shock as Callie rushed back over and barked some more at...seemingly nothing. But this time, she was being incredibly aggressive, lashing out at nothing. Marie pulled on her reins ever harder, "Woah, Callie! Down, girl! DOWN!"

"_**What is this? Can she...see me, perhaps? Understand me?"**_ Karsum asked, eyeing the wolf pitifully. She was looking up at him, despite everything, snarling. And yet, inside her mind, Karsum could feel...a voice. A mind beyond the savage. Pleading for help. Crying out in fear. He tilted his head, "I_**nteresting. Only those touched by the Dark Aether can see me. What has your alternate been doing here? To the Idols so many looked up to for hope? If only she knew of my version of her. My family...**_" the figure shook his head, "_**No matter. This Zamantha has overstepped her boundaries, reached beyond the pale. She thinks she knows what she is handling. She does not. She will die. And she will unleash those monsters back into the multiverse. Undo the work of greater men. She must be stopped. And you. Will. Stop her.**_"

With these final words, Karsum slowly faded from Drista's view. He waved his free hand, almost mockingly saying goodbye as he vanished. Drista could finally feel the anger and the wretchedness leave her body, and she flopped to the floor, breathless. Jack rushed back over to her, picking her up onto her feet. He spoke softly, "Drista...you okay? Did you see him again?"

"Uh, him?" Marie asked.

"...Look, Drista, she..." Connor mumbled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head, "She's not exactly..."

Drista looked up at Marie, her face in full view. Marie couldn't help but jump back a little as she saw what had become of her eyes - black on the outside, red inside. It looked...too familiar, in fact. Drista whined,"My head..." before she gave it a few good shakes. She shut her eyes, concentrating fully, breathing in and out as slow as she could, before she finally opened them again. Connor sighed as her eyes reverted to the white again. Karsum had been fought off again. For now. Drista sighed, "G-Give me a second...I'm fine now."

Jack spoke up, "She sees someone...we can't. Well, Sophie can. I guess...Cal can, too."

"Oh my..." Marie gasped, "Those eyes...I feel like I've seen 'em before...w-well, no matter. Let's get inside and rest up a bit. Have a drink, perhaps."

"Sounds good to me..." Jack sighed as they meandered towards the grate, "Could do with some stiff stuff. Maybe some wine?"

"Wine?" Connor teased, "Ooh, you're going native."

"Oi, don't knock it...it's actually nice," Jack flashed an amused smile, perhaps for the first time that day, "Merlot with a dash of white. Mmm."

With all at the grate, they began to clamber into it. Callie first - the pipe had clearly been increased and fortified to hold her new bulk. Then, Marie, Jack, Connor. Finally, Drista and Sophie. They tumbled through pipes, illuminated only by the glow of Marie's tentacles, towards the Outpost. Towards safe haven. Towards their new home.

"Ladies, gentlemen...welcome to the Salvaged Splatoon."

[END]


End file.
